Two Muslim students in Virginia are accusing a school administrator of harassing them because they wore hijabs to school, reports
ABC7.
It was so emotional,” one of them said.
The administrator asked for a note from their parents proving they were wearing the hijab for religious reasons.
“Normally, I don’t wear the hijab at school, but this time I did because Ramadan fell during the school year and I was fasting,” senior Hajab Bah said in an interview with Inside Nova. “But why do I need a note if it’s my religion?”
Both Bah and her cousin Fatmata Mansaray received an apology from the school.
“We regret the circumstances that led a Freedom High School administrator to question students about wearing a hijab or ask for proof of their religious reasons,” the Prince William County Schools said in a statement. “The request was inconsistent with the PWCS commitment to diversity and religious freedom, and we apologize to anyone it may have offended.”
Mansaray says this isn’t the first time she’s been stopped for wearing a hijab at school.
“I would explain that it’s for a religious purpose, and they didn’t care,” Mansaray said. “I’d wear my hijab to school, and I’d be constantly told to take off my hijab.”
The Council of American Islamic Relations has offered diversity training for school administrators in the district.
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Muslim Students “Harassed” for Wearing Hijab
