WASHINGTON, USA - Muslims in the United States reported a rise in civil rights violations in the past year, ranging from women being fired for wearing traditional head coverings to physical and verbal abuse, according to a new report released on Wednesday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) detailed more than 360 incidents of anti-Muslim violence, stereotyping, bias and harassment in the year ended March 15, 2001, an increase of 15 percent over the previous year.
The report, the group's sixth annual report, said the numbers show many of the estimated 7 million Muslims in the United States face discrimination and intolerance in their daily lives. CAIR said the increase might also reflect a growing tendency to report such experiences.
It cited some advances for Muslims, including the passage of laws in New Jersey, Minnesota and Illinois regulating labeling of foods prepared for Muslim consumers.
But the council said Muslims were still fighting for the repeal of a 1996 anti-terrorism law that has been used to detain immigrants without charge on "secret evidence" for up to three years.
Mohamed Nimer, the author of the report, said his research showed that employers and school districts typically respond to complaints on a case-by-case basis instead of rewriting policies to accommodate Muslims in the workplace, prisons or school settings.
"While we have educated a lot of school districts and a lot of firms, there is a pattern of resistance on the part of schools and firms to change their policies," Nimer said.
"They tend to deal with the situation on a case-by-case basis. It secures the rights for one person in a particular moment, but then ... a new manager or principal comes in, that person has to go through this all over again," he said.
RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS SAID LACKING
CAIR said most of the complaints it received involved a lack of religious accommodation in the workplace, schools, prison and other institutional settings.
In schools, many Muslim children and parents complained about misrepresentations of Islam in their textbooks and instructional materials, as well as physical attacks on college students and obstruction of their right to free speech.
In one case, a Trans World Airlines flight attendant reported harassment for wearing a headscarf, or hijab, to work. The plane's captain scolded the woman, telling her, "the passengers might think you will hijack the airplane."
The flight attendant was fired in May this year and has filed a suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Nimer said.
Other employees reported they were told they could not wear a beard to work, although other workers were allowed to wear jeans, earrings and sneakers. Many devout Muslims grow beards, following the tradition of the prophet Mohammed.
In another case, an employee reported he had been able to take time off work to attend Friday prayers for three years until a new supervisor and human resource manager were hired and refused him the time off.
The employee has filed a complaint with the human rights commission in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Employers are required to reasonably accommodate the religious beliefs of employees unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.
"Muslims take their living in this country seriously. They want to be treated like everybody else," Nimer said. "All they're asking for is understanding, and that's not much to ask."
CAIR began tracking anti-Muslim incidents following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which some people initially and wrongly blamed on Islamic terrorists. In the days after that attack, U.S. Muslims reported more than 220 acts of discrimination and violence, according to the group.
11:02 08-22-01
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