An alliance is forming in some communities across the country between American Muslim parents and conservative groups over what they see as a leftist, woke politicization of American schools.
Muslim Americans have increasingly begun to show up at school boards from Minnesota to Virginia to denounce education officials for embracing awakened priorities, including critical race theory, and allowing explicit materials in the classroom.
“We’re hearing from people in the community saying they’re tired of politicizing the schools their kids go to,” said Preya Samsundar, communications director for the Republican National Committee for the Midwest. “It’s not just about explicit material in schools, but they’re concerned about [COVID-19] lockdowns, distance learning, education quality, enlightened politics in classrooms, and achievement.”
For many, the fight is personal. Muslim Americans, especially recent immigrants, have long viewed American schools as the key to upward mobility and success. This view has, however, changed for some in recent years.
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An unlikely alliance is forming in some communities across the country between American Muslim parents and conservative groups over what they see as the politicization of American schools.
(Reuters)
Shukri Abdirahman, a Somali-American who ran for Congress this year as a Republican from Minnesota, said the coronavirus pandemic has exposed critical flaws in the education system.
“With our children and doing the in-person learning, we saw the curricula and how the teachers reacted,” Abdirahman said. “Slowly it became clear that our children were learning more about gender identity and critical race theory than they were about math and reading.”
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Abdirahman said she was spurred into action when her six-year-old son was reprimanded at school for saying “oh my God” after falling in school. Since then, she has worked to mobilize the Somali American community in support of the Minnesota Parents Alliance.
The group works to educate and empower parents to push back against the progressive policies enacted by school districts across the state. So far, the effort has paid off.
Muslim Americans have increasingly begun to show up at school boards from Minnesota to Virginia to denounce education officials for embracing awakened priorities, including critical race theory, and allowing explicit materials in the classroom.
(Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal via AP)
At a recent school board meeting in Wilmer, Minnesota, nearly a dozen Somali American parents showed up to protest reports of LGBTQ pride flags being flown at educational facilities across the country. kindergarten to 12th grade. Although the local school district denied such flags were flying, the presence of so many Somali American parents alongside conservative activists presented a new coalition.
“Muslim Americans want the same as any parent in this country,” Abdirahman said. “The right for their children to receive a quality education without being indoctrinated. This shouldn’t be political, but it seems only conservatives and Republicans agree.”
The alliance between conservative education activists and Muslim Americans was also evident in Virginia, Missouri and Michigan.
Muslim Americans, drawn from Dearborn’s large Middle Eastern population, turned out in large numbers to protest the school district’s decision to include LGBTQ books in school libraries.
(Dearborn Public Schools)
Muslim and South Asian Americans have increasingly shown up at Virginia school board meetings to oppose critical race theory and policies allowing transgender students to use the gender washrooms and locker rooms to which they belong. they identify. The latter issue was highlighted last year when a female student was raped by a student allegedly wearing a skirt at a school in suburban Loudon County.
In Missouri, meanwhile, Bosnian Muslims have spoken out against the inclusion of sexually explicit material in school libraries. The same issue recently gained national attention at a school board meeting in Dearborn, Michigan.
Muslim Americans, drawn from Dearborn’s large Middle Eastern population, turned out in large numbers to protest the school district’s decision to include LGBTQ books in school libraries. Parents claimed that many books were sexually explicit and inappropriate for young children.
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“We don’t worry [LGBT] people,” said a parent from Dearborn, who attended the school board meeting. “We are worried about our children. If they end up gay at 18, who cares? But the school library shouldn’t let 10-year-olds read books that detail sexual acts.”
The appeal of the conservative message on parental rights to some members of the American Muslim community gives Republicans hope to expand their party. GOP lawmakers in Virginia, Michigan and Minnesota are working to make inroads with Muslim voters using the question.
“I’m proud to stand with the parents of Dearborn,” said Matthew DePerno, the Republican candidate for Michigan attorney general. “We need to fight the sexualization of our schools.”
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