Loading ...Michigan Student Facing Anti-Arab Harassment and Slurs #HummusHaters
With all the anti-Arab bashing we see in the news every week, Arab America is determined to expose those who discriminate against our community. We will recognize those who vilify the positive influence and contributions Arabs have made to the fabric of American society. And we will use hummus as our weapon. By naming those who vilify the Arab American community as #HummusHaters, we can express our culture positively while showing intolerance to bigotry.
BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer
A 17-year-old American Muslim student at Michigan’s prestigious private prep school, Cranbrook, is speaking out about the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim harassment directed toward her on campus.
The unnamed student said that twice in one day a group of males approached her and her mother, saying “allahu akbar.” The student said the men threw racial slurs her way, such as “raghead,” “ISIS,” and “terrorist.”
Later in the day, the female student went for a jog, where the men surrounded her, and said: “Arab go back to your country or we will blow your [expletive] up,” and “you don’t belong here.” The men apparently also shoved her as she tried to run away.
Michigan’s branch of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has asked local police to investigate the incidents as hate crimes. Police say they cannot act unless Cranbrook requests the investigation, which the school has yet to do.
Cranbrook’s communications director, Clay Matthews, said these allegations are inconsistent with what the school has investigated. Matthews insisted that Cranbrook is a diverse school that does not tolerate any acts of harassment or discrimination.
Having a diverse school is not a reason to ignore discrimination, though. Hate crimes can happen anywhere, even at the prestigious Cranbrook prep school.
Cranbrook and its communications director, Clay Matthews, could use a good dose of tasty hummus, so that they can start taking these incidents more seriously. The offensive and raucous young men who think it’s within their right to disparage a stranger and her mother better eat some hummus pretty quickly. If not, they might turn into offensive and raucous adults.