CAIR says investigation request is unusual
By Dave Aeikens • daeikens@stcloudtimes.com • March 25, 2010
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Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A Next Page1| 2| 3Previous PageThe request from the Minnesota chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations that the federal government investigate discrimination against students is the chapter’s first complaint of that sort.
CAIR’s Minnesota chapter, which is based in St. Paul and started three years ago, prefers to work through allegations of discrimination using mediation and education rather than lawsuits and bias complaints to federal agencies.
“We don’t like it when we have to take it this far and get outside people involved,” said Lori Saroya, who is founder and president of the Minnesota chapter of CAIR. “We have been working on this issue since June of 2009. There really haven’t been any changes. Those kids are still going through it.”
On Wednesday, CAIR Minnesota announced it had asked the U.S. Department of Education to look into allegations that Muslims confront a hostile learning environment at Technical and Apollo high dchools. It also asked for an investigation at Owatonna High School.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education’s office of civil rights, CAIR said there were several incidents at Tech and Apollo that show discrimination against Muslim students.
A department spokesman said Thursday that the decision about whether to start an investigation could take up to 30 days. The department’s office of civil rights has to determine whether the complaint alleges violations of laws the agency is charged with enforcing, and whether the complaint was filed within six months of the alleged acts of discrimination.
Surprised district
Superintendent Steve Jordahl said Thursday he was surprised that CAIR filed the complaint. He said the group has never asked the district for information about how it deals with some of the issues. St. Cloud school district has been working with Minnesota CAIR and local Somali groups to create harmony in the schools between Muslim students, who began arriving about 2000, and the rest of the student body.
“One of the things I would like to ask them, what is the motive?” Jordahl said.
Jordahl said he wants to continue to work with CAIR to deal with cultural relations within the schools.
The federal complaint is the first since Saroya started CAIR Minnesota in 2007. That year, the group handled five claims of discrimination. In 2009, it handled 120. Many involved employers who don’t understand the rituals and customs of Islam. Most of the issues are settled with a letter from one of CAIR’s lawyers, Saroya said.
St. Cloud school district has about 9,700 students. It has 710 students who speak Somali, and there are students from other countries who are Muslim. The district estimates about 9 percent of the student body is Muslim.
Jordahl said the district was unaware of all but one of the allegations raised in CAIR’s letter. The incident the district acknowledges took place in February. Two boys who are white approached a group of Muslim girls and asked if they would like pork bacon. When the girls said that their religion prohibited it, the students made disparaging remarks. The boys were suspended. Several days later, CAIR officials came to talk to the girls involved, Saroya said. She said the district was worried the girls might retaliate.
“We try to tell (the girls) you are just going to get into trouble too. There is a better process you don’t need to take it into your own hands,” Saroya said.
Jordahl said the district plans to investigate the remaining accusations in the complaint. Among them are allegations that two students brought pork bacon to school and shoved it into the faces of Muslim students, that a bus driver purposely left Somali Muslim students at a bus stop and that some teachers misunderstand Islam and make disparaging remarks about Somalia. Another claim is that a teacher gave a student air freshener and instructed students to spray around the class while the teacher and class laughed.
Jordahl said he has asked the principals and assistant principals to look into each claim and determine whether it happened and if so, how it was handled
Jordahl said he wants to continue to work with CAIR to deal with cultural relations within the schools.
The federal complaint is the first since Saroya started CAIR Minnesota in 2007. That year, the group handled five claims of discrimination. In 2009, it handled 120. Many involved employers who don’t understand the rituals and customs of Islam. Most of the issues are settled with a letter from one of CAIR’s lawyers, Saroya said.
St. Cloud school district has about 9,700 students. It has 710 students who speak Somali, and there are students from other countries who are Muslim. The district estimates about 9 percent of the student body is Muslim.
Jordahl said the district was unaware of all but one of the allegations raised in CAIR’s letter. The incident the district acknowledges took place in February. Two boys who are white approached a group of Muslim girls and asked if they would like pork bacon. When the girls said that their religion prohibited it, the students made disparaging remarks. The boys were suspended. Several days later, CAIR officials came to talk to the girls involved, Saroya said. She said the district was worried the girls might retaliate.
“We try to tell (the girls) you are just going to get into trouble too. There is a better process you don’t need to take it into your own hands,” Saroya said.
Jordahl said the district plans to investigate the remaining accusations in the complaint. Among them are allegations that two students brought pork bacon to school and shoved it into the faces of Muslim students, that a bus driver purposely left Somali Muslim students at a bus stop and that some teachers misunderstand Islam and make disparaging remarks about Somalia. Another claim is that a teacher gave a student air freshener and instructed students to spray around the class while the teacher and class laughed.
Jordahl said he has asked the principals and assistant principals to look into each claim and determine whether it happened and if so, how it was handled.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Islamic rights group wants feds to investigate St. Cloud schools
Islamic rights group wants feds to investigate St. Cloud schools
By Dave Aeikens • daeikens@stcloudtimes.com • March 25, 2010
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Buzz up!Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A An Islamic civil rights group in Minnesota has asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate what it calls a hostile learning environment for Muslims in St. Cloud and other Minnesota schools.
The request comes from the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The group says there is a growing number of instances in Minnesota schools in which Somali and Muslim students are being harassed and discriminated against. Some of the incidents took place at Apollo and Technical high schools, the group said.
“We just want them to investigate these incidents,” said Lori Saroya, president of the Minnesota chapter of CAIR. “We think there needs to be something statewide, something larger to take place.”
Saroya said many of the incidents have taken place in St. Cloud and Owatonna, in southern Minnesota. The group has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education detailing several incidents in Minnesota schools and has specifically asked the department to investigate Tech, Apollo and Owatonna high
The number of Muslim students in St. Cloud has continued to grow since 2000. Most of the Muslim students are Somali. The district has 710 students who speak Somali, in addition to students from other countries who are also Muslim. The district estimates about 9 percent of its student body is Muslim.
Zahra Aljabri, assistant director of civil rights for CAIR of Minnesota, said schools in Minnesota already have policies against religious and racial discrimination. They need help doing a better job of enforcing them.
“We have been supporting the school as much as we can. We are really not equipped to determine what the best course of action is. Hopefully, the Department of Education has dealt with these things before,” Aljabri said.
CAIR lists several incidents at Apollo. One involved a history teacher who disparaged Somalia, the organization said.
Another incident CAIR cites involved two white boys who approached a group of Muslim girls and asked if they would like some pork. When the girls said their religion prohibited eating pork, the students made disparaging remarks, CAIR said.
A week later, CAIR said, two students brought pork bacon to school and shoved it in the faces of Muslim students and chased them when they tried to get away.
CAIR’s letter says Somali students were left behind at a bus stop and made to try and catch the bus. Aljabri said this took place at Apollo.
Superintendent Steve Jordahl said the district is going to investigate the allegations because no administrator in the district or at the schools was aware of them.
He said he has spoken to Somali elders in St. Cloud who want the district to look into the allegations and then try to work through the district’s equity services department to solve them.
“We want to avoid these incidents in the future realizing we can’t avoid them all. I still want us to address any incident. Sometimes that just means our staff and administration need to have the courage to do that,” Jordahl said.
Local Somali refugees have seen their treatment in St. Cloud schools get worse after years of building relationships, said Mohamoud Mohamed, executive director of the St. Cloud Area Somali Salvation Organization. He said district staff are not responding appropriately to acts of discrimination against Muslim children. He said CAIR Minnesota’s letter to the U.S. Department of Education is helpful.
“This CAIR action is reminding them they will have involvement from higher authorities,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed said the incident with the bacon took place in February and was reported to Apollo’s cultural navigator, the staff member who is the liaison to the students.
An incident at Owatonna High School is also cited, as are as incidents of racial and religious epithets directed at students at Technical High School.
The letter was sent to the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights division in Chicago on Friday, Aljabri said. The group announced its action Wednesday. The Minnesota Department of Education does not investigate racial discrimination, she said.
The school district and Apollo have worked with Minnesota CAIR to address issues of racial and religious intolerance, Jordahl said.
St. Cloud community leaders have had to respond to a number of incidents of discrimination against Somalis in the past decade. Most recently, a New Hope man was arrested after police said he posted on Craigslist threats to Somalis attending a cultural event at St. Cloud State University.
In December, a Waite Park man was cited in connection with violations of the St. Cloud ordinances against posting materials in public places. The man admitted posting ethnically insensitive posters in front of Somali businesses. CAIR Minnesota helped the city conduct a town-hall meeting in January to address concerns.
CAIR is the largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization in the United States. It works to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
By Dave Aeikens • daeikens@stcloudtimes.com • March 25, 2010
Comments(246)Recommend(6)Print this page E-mail this article Share
Del.icio.us Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine
Buzz up!Twitter FarkIt Type Size A A A An Islamic civil rights group in Minnesota has asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate what it calls a hostile learning environment for Muslims in St. Cloud and other Minnesota schools.
The request comes from the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The group says there is a growing number of instances in Minnesota schools in which Somali and Muslim students are being harassed and discriminated against. Some of the incidents took place at Apollo and Technical high schools, the group said.
“We just want them to investigate these incidents,” said Lori Saroya, president of the Minnesota chapter of CAIR. “We think there needs to be something statewide, something larger to take place.”
Saroya said many of the incidents have taken place in St. Cloud and Owatonna, in southern Minnesota. The group has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education detailing several incidents in Minnesota schools and has specifically asked the department to investigate Tech, Apollo and Owatonna high
The number of Muslim students in St. Cloud has continued to grow since 2000. Most of the Muslim students are Somali. The district has 710 students who speak Somali, in addition to students from other countries who are also Muslim. The district estimates about 9 percent of its student body is Muslim.
Zahra Aljabri, assistant director of civil rights for CAIR of Minnesota, said schools in Minnesota already have policies against religious and racial discrimination. They need help doing a better job of enforcing them.
“We have been supporting the school as much as we can. We are really not equipped to determine what the best course of action is. Hopefully, the Department of Education has dealt with these things before,” Aljabri said.
CAIR lists several incidents at Apollo. One involved a history teacher who disparaged Somalia, the organization said.
Another incident CAIR cites involved two white boys who approached a group of Muslim girls and asked if they would like some pork. When the girls said their religion prohibited eating pork, the students made disparaging remarks, CAIR said.
A week later, CAIR said, two students brought pork bacon to school and shoved it in the faces of Muslim students and chased them when they tried to get away.
CAIR’s letter says Somali students were left behind at a bus stop and made to try and catch the bus. Aljabri said this took place at Apollo.
Superintendent Steve Jordahl said the district is going to investigate the allegations because no administrator in the district or at the schools was aware of them.
He said he has spoken to Somali elders in St. Cloud who want the district to look into the allegations and then try to work through the district’s equity services department to solve them.
“We want to avoid these incidents in the future realizing we can’t avoid them all. I still want us to address any incident. Sometimes that just means our staff and administration need to have the courage to do that,” Jordahl said.
Local Somali refugees have seen their treatment in St. Cloud schools get worse after years of building relationships, said Mohamoud Mohamed, executive director of the St. Cloud Area Somali Salvation Organization. He said district staff are not responding appropriately to acts of discrimination against Muslim children. He said CAIR Minnesota’s letter to the U.S. Department of Education is helpful.
“This CAIR action is reminding them they will have involvement from higher authorities,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed said the incident with the bacon took place in February and was reported to Apollo’s cultural navigator, the staff member who is the liaison to the students.
An incident at Owatonna High School is also cited, as are as incidents of racial and religious epithets directed at students at Technical High School.
The letter was sent to the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights division in Chicago on Friday, Aljabri said. The group announced its action Wednesday. The Minnesota Department of Education does not investigate racial discrimination, she said.
The school district and Apollo have worked with Minnesota CAIR to address issues of racial and religious intolerance, Jordahl said.
St. Cloud community leaders have had to respond to a number of incidents of discrimination against Somalis in the past decade. Most recently, a New Hope man was arrested after police said he posted on Craigslist threats to Somalis attending a cultural event at St. Cloud State University.
In December, a Waite Park man was cited in connection with violations of the St. Cloud ordinances against posting materials in public places. The man admitted posting ethnically insensitive posters in front of Somali businesses. CAIR Minnesota helped the city conduct a town-hall meeting in January to address concerns.
CAIR is the largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization in the United States. It works to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
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