The ACLU ignored a high-school discrimination case while the school dismissed Islamic observance

Evidence

Rather than deterring her, however, it hardened her resolve. She would try again this year to run, but this time for the presidency, regardless of how impossible that would be. She faxed the ACLU a five-page, single-spaced narrative of the events, hoping to enlist their help, but she heard nothing back from them. Meanwhile, CAIR’s civil-rights coordinator called the school one day and spoke to the assistant principal, who told her that Yasmin and Mariam had “to decide what is more important to them, their religion or the student body” and if they wanted “to observe their religion, they should go to private school.” The CAIR coordinator was insulted by the comments and their tone, and CAIR faxed a letter to the school again affirming the case and now demanding an apology for these remarks. They asked for a meeting with the principal and also offered to present an educational forum “on the Islamic way of life” to the school. As before, the letter went unheeded. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 410

Categorization

• SHARE: The structural irony — the ACLU never responding while CAIR pressed the case — is a telling detail about which organizations actually take on Muslim civil-rights complaints post-9/11. Good for someone working on civil liberties coverage.
• XREF: connects to: Minority religions exercising the same rights are routinely excluded from schools — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 870