I am not sure if Americans can reach a point where they look beyond a book’s cover when making judgment. I do know that events on Sept. 11, 2001, have made it more difficult.
But it would seem that “the academy” would offer a place where we might escape discrimination based on how someone dresses.
So, a story out of Boston raises questions and events in France offer a window into a world where America might find itself if we stray too far from the precepts of freedom embedded in the U.S. Constitution.
The Associated Press reported this story out of Boston: “The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences bans students from wearing clothing such as burqas and face veils, as well as ski masks and scarves.” The school amended the policy — after complaints — to exempt some on religious grounds. But the exempted still must remove any covering in order to verify their identity for security purposes.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations wanted federal officials to investigate the school policy because it discriminated against Muslims.
Meanwhile, France’s recent experience takes face covering to another level.
A national commission recommended in January that the country ban burqas. In June, President Nicolas Sarkozy told lawmakers that the Islamic burqa is not welcome in France. Sarkozy said the Muslim body covering impugned French values.
“In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” Sarkozy said.
France holds Western Europe’s largest population of Muslims, approximately five million.
“That could never happen here,” you say.
Think again.
Why would banning the burqa be any different than an effort to amend the Constitution to make English the official language of the U.S.?
I see little difference. Both aim to create “sameness” and target immigrants — and ignore the foundational precepts of the First Amendment.
Resources:
- jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2010/02/proposed-french /...
- www.sltrib.com/opinion ci_14375883
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ZdaTC4mdo
This is wondeful. I don't know how many countries you have been to with a heavy Islamic influence, but I have been to several and I can tell you that their women are scared to death not of their husbands backhand, but of the societal pressures placed on women not to rock the boat or step out of place. France--and other European countries--are finally calling BS on this sick form of peer pressure. You see, you stop problems like this when they're small and before they turn into honor killings. The government of France is liberating these women in a way they cannot themselves. Now their husbands have the government to take issue with and not their wives. Most of these men are insecure cowards, and you can see this in the way they wage war--convincing poor, impressionable kids to blow themselves up. Immigrants worldwide need to understand that when they relocate to another nation that they are expected to wholeheartedly accept and embrace the principles of that nation. If these famalies dont like the new rules, they can book a flight to Riyadh or Tehran--both of those cities laws jive with their behaviors and tastes in fashion.
Thanks for writing, but I cannot agree with some of your premises. Americans have always been able to express their individuality via dress. That freedom is one of the most important "principles" new arrivals to this country chase and embrace. Long before the arrival of burqas, folks who exercised that right have been looked at suspiciously, punished unfairly and in some cases told to change their behavior: Native Americans. Africans, the Amish, Buddhists and other religious groups, and the list goes on. I cannot speak to the husband-wife relationship that you reference, But I would say that I think it's a stretch to think that a man who routinely demeaned and/or physically and mentally abused a woman would stop doing that and focus their angst on the government based on such a law being passed. Best- Mac
They would not stop it at home, but it would prevent them from doing it in public without consequence. The most important thing it does is make it known that those who come to the country in question cannot continue the throwback religious tendencies without reprimand. The home society will not surrender its principles in the face of cultural relativism at best and sadistic religious bullying at worst. This would never happen in the United States, because we have been trained to be tolerent of almost everything; even when it is blatantly wrong, because, in the United States, to be intolerent is to be a bigot.
Well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree. But I find your last post a little confusing. You seem to be defending intolerance of someone's religious beliefs — certainly not an American "principle." And I also am not clear on the connection you make between intolerance and bigotry.
what about kids in baggy jeans... or short skirts or ...
I am not sure what you mean, so perhaps you can articulate. Thanks- Mac
How we overcome fear of people and things different from what we know is the "Million Dollar" question. As always, I think it starts with self-education, a willingness to learn more about other cultures and the way people think and live. No question, terrorism and terrorists are frightening, and the threat is real. And we are reminded that is comes in many forms — as witnessed by the homebred act of flying a plane into an IRS office. I do not know the entire answer. But I do know that random acts of xenophobia translated to laws directed at the obvious rather than the relevant is not the answer. Thanks for your thoughtful post.
As I understand it, France's ban isn't on the full veil, but a partial ban so that "public officials" can ask women to remove it. I don't believe that the French National Assembly is making a stand for women's rights, as they've stated. On the contrary, I think the French lawmakers equate veils, or covering up, with terrorists. And that frightens them. Terrorists ARE frightening. No sane person wants them around. But a veil, or hearing a language different from one's own, shouldn't cause fear. How do we overcome that fear?
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