Hayward Muslim student is called a terrorist, has hijab tugged

HAYWARD -- A 13-year-old Muslim girl said she is afraid after a Hayward classmate called her a terrorist and pulled at her hijab last week.

"He asked me twice if I was a terrorist," the Cesar Chavez Middle School seventh-grader said Wednesday. "Then he pulled my scarf to the side."

The girl said she told the teacher, who just told the boy to stop. So she went to her next teacher, who reported what had happened to the school vice principal.

"I felt really scared and didn't know what to do," the girl said Wednesday. She said she will finish the school year, but wants to be home-schooled starting in the eighth grade.

A 13-year-old Muslim girl from Cesar Chavez Middle School in Hayward said she wants to be home-schooled next school year after a classmate called her a terrorist and pulled at her hijab last week. Wednesday, March 24, 2016 Rebecca Parr (Pamela Turntine)

"As soon as we heard about this, we reached out to the student and her parent," said Sabrina Aranda, Hayward Unified spokeswoman. School leaders met with the girl and her mother Wednesday to ensure she feels safe and comfortable, Aranda said.

The meeting with school leaders went well, said Brice Hamack of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area.

"The school district and principal seem willing to work with the family and student body so that the student feels comfortable and this doesn't happen again," he said.

Hayward schools have an anti-bullying program, with assemblies and workshops emphasizing that bullying of any kind, including because of religious beliefs and sexual orientation, is not tolerated. The district's anti-bullying specialist is working with the school principal to come up with a plan to address the boy's actions, Aranda said.

"Incidents such as this affect the whole community, and as a district we need to ensure that all of our families feel safe and welcome in the school," said Hector Garcia, a school district administrator.

"District and school staff are not only meeting with the family to address their specific concerns, but also working to bring resources, such as HUSD's Safe and Inclusive Schools program, so that the whole school community can learn how they can be part of the solution to stop bullying of any kind," he said."

Aranda declined to say what disciplinary action was taken against the boy, citing student confidentiality.

The boy started bullying her in the third grade, the girl said. She reported it to teachers, and there was a meeting with her mother, but nothing changed. She stopped wearing a hijab in fourth grade, but decided this year to once again cover her hair.

"I'm proudly wearing it now," she said.

The girl said the school district has done as much as it can, but she still does not feel safe.

"I'm scared the same person will come back to school and do the same thing again," she said.

The girl is one of several Muslim students who have been bullied in California, according to CAIR.

"There has been an unprecedented climate of hate toward Muslim students, and we're going to have get creative in preventing these kind of incidents from happening again," Hamack said.

"It's becoming a really scary environment for Muslim students in California," he said.

Contact Rebecca Parr at 510-293-2473 or follow her at Twitter.com/rdparr1 ^[1].