The Hijab in America: Discrimination against Muslim-American Women

The United States is viewed as the land of equal opportunity, a country in which all humans are entitled to certain fundamental rights, including the right to freely express one’s religious beliefs. Thus, with the conviction that her religious affiliation would not challenge her rights to success, Fatima, a close friend, made the decision to wear the hijab when she was fifteen years old. This hijab, a headscarf that covered her hair, openly indicated to the public that she was a follower of Islam, a fact she took great pride in. Unfortunately, she would soon discover that this mere piece of cloth would transform into a focal point for discrimination. The hijab, she realized, was an open invitation for hostile stares and even verbal harassment from strangers. Although she admirably dismissed negative reactions as blatant ignorance, it was not until she started the process of applying to medical schools that she recognized the extent to which her scarf, and the discrimination it incited, truly limited her opportunities in American society. When it came time for her interviews, she noticed how uncomfortable many of her interviewers appeared upon glancing at her. Despite her excellent grades and volunteer experiences, she was rejected from almost every school. While she understood that medical school admission is a highly competitive process, deep in her heart she also felt that her hijab, and not solely a lack in skills, played a factor. Realizing that her dreams were in jeopardy, she was forced to consider removing her hijab, a dilemma which broke her heart. With the dreadful feeling that she was not being true to herself, she decided to give a few interviews without her hijab. These were the only schools she was accepted into.

Unfortunately, thousands of Muslim-American women can relate to Fatima’s story, sharing similar experiences of both discrimination and insecurity. Despite living in a country that idealizes the liberties and opportunities it allows its citizens, several Hijabis eventually come to realize that religious discrimination is so embedded within American society that it could have the power to hinder a person’s rights to success, especially in terms of education and employment.  Although the United States constitutionally guarantees freedom of religious expression, stereotypes regarding the hijab, often propagated by the media in the post 9/11 era, increasingly fuel misinterpretations of this religious symbol. These misunderstandings, in turn, set the stage for discrimination towards Muslim-American women, limiting their prospects in public sectors. The contradiction between supposed American ideals regarding religious rights and the reality of the daily injustices faced by Hijabis highlights the need to promote a more holistic understanding of the hijab within American society.

Scholars of the American legal system often argue that the religious clauses in the First Amendment,  which explicitly state that Congress will not make any laws  prohibiting the free exercise of religion, have led to a “more generous and accepting spirit” toward the religious practices of minorities in the country (Moore 105). Yet, despite this “accepting spirit” that the Constitution supposedly produces, one of the most prominent places for hostility against Hijabis ironically occurs in schools, the very place where students attain an education regarding their constitutional rights. According to a Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) report published in 2005, after airports, schools were among the top five places where Hijabis encountered acts of discrimination (Elver 168). Schoolgirls, subject to insults from peers, often report that their classmates repeatedly try to pull off their headscarves while calling  them “rag heads” or telling them to “go home” (Ahmed 204) . Even educators themselves contribute to the stereotypes surrounding Hijabi students. One Hijabi even revealed that her teachers would periodically comment that they did not expect her to be so articulate whenever she participated in discussions (Hoodfar 437).

Apart from disrespectful remarks made by teachers and students, some schools even go as far as entirely excluding Muslim girls from educational opportunities because of their attire.  In 2004, for example, 11-year old Nashala Hearn was suspended twice from her school in Oklahoma for wearing her hijab.  In defense of its decision, the school maintained that Nashala’s hijab was in violation of the district’s dress code, an argument shared by several other schools involved in cases of hijab discrimination (Friedan 1). Supporters of dress code maintenance claim that in some circumstances, the Constitution allows neutral rules that apply to everyone, such as rules barring head coverings (“Discrimination Fact Sheet” 1). Yet, despite this assertion, it cannot be denied that Nashala was treated with injustice. Alex Acosta, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, spoke in defense of Nashala’s case, even stating that while he respects local school systems’ authority to set dress standards, “…such rules cannot come at the cost of constitutional liberties. Religious discrimination has no place in our schools” (Friedan 1).  Nashala’s school also claimed that its dress code was created to maintain the school as a “religious free zone” in order to comply with federal regulations, thus raising the debate of secularity within public schools (Elver 167). While some countries like France have chosen to ban the hijab from the public school setting, Acosta made it clear that such intolerance was un-American and morally despicable (168). In 2009, President Obama even stated, “It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit, for instance, by dictating what clothes Muslim women should wear” (155). This claim, made by the President himself, emphasizes the fact that American values do not correlate with any form of discrimination towards women who choose to veil, or wear the hijab.

Despite statements made by officials in defense of the hijab, acts of discrimination in the workplace are also often justified with dress code policies. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion, in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment (Elver 168).Yet, at the same time,  the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicated a 153% increase in workplace discrimination claims against Muslims after the September 11 attacks (Ghumman and Jackson 2). Often, because of the visibility of the hijab, employers shy away from hiring Hijabis for jobs requiring high public contact. For example, Mariam Sobh, a Hijabi, was refused a job as a newscaster for the sole reason that at the time of her interview the “climate was so anti-Muslim,” according to the news director (Sobh 81). Several corporations such as Abercrombie & Fitch have fired Muslim-American women because they did not feel as if the hijab fit the “look policy” they were attempting to project to the public (Hughes 1). As Mariam Sobh stated, “In my naiveté, I had believed in the ‘American system’ only to start noticing through my own experiences that parts of it were reserved for those who fit into the mold. And I knew deep inside that if I took my scarf off, I’d be welcome with open arms” (Sobh 80).

A  recent study regarding Muslim-American women in the workplace shows that of the 219 Muslim women interviewed, 63% of the Hijabis said they were aware of incidences where women wearing hijabs were refused work, and 22% said they were personally denied work because of their attire. Almost all of them, despite several being American citizens, shared concerns of finding employment (Omiya 1). The setback that Hijabi women face because of their attire demonstrates a blatant form of discrimination that contradicts laws guaranteeing equality in employment.

The increase in discrimination against Hijabi women in the workplace and schools, especially after the events of September 11^th, directly correlates to the stereotypes projected by the media. The attack in New York City and the subsequent war on terror, created a sense of Islamophobia within society, exacerbated by media depictions of Muslim terrorists.  Hostile representations of Muslims were generally uncensored in the wake of 9/11, often conveying Islam as “a very wicked, evil religion” (Ahmed 217). Thus, the American public has increasingly identified the hijab, a visible marker of Islam, with Islamic militancy, extremism, and jihadism.  To many Americans, the hijab transformed into a negative symbol propagating antidemocratic and antisecular sentiments, thus leading to an attitude of fear and resentment towards women who choose to wear it (Elver 159).  Even though many of the Hijabis are American citizens, the hijab itself became a visible identifier of the “otherness” of these Muslim women, while creating an image regarded as a “strong, loud, perhaps provocative expression of individual religious expression” (Moore 117).

Furthermore, media representations also falsely promote the view that Hijabi women are victims of oppression and that their hijab is a manifestation of gender inequality. Through this generalization, Hijabis are not only harassed, but they also become the subjects of pity when several Americans wonder about their seemingly archaic values and active participation in their own oppression. These views of Muslim-American women make de-veiling seem like an almost justifiable course of action. Several Western feminists believe that the hijab cannot be defended because it is a reminder of gender stratification and the perceived unimportance of women by society. Consequently, these feminists adopt strong anti-hijab attitudes, forcing Hijabis to not only deal with racism in education and the workplace, but also in their interactions with feminists (Hoodfar 436). The media further created a sense that Hijabi women would never truly be a part of the American public sphere until they chose to remove their hijabs (Byng 124). By publishing stories about women who have the opportunity to, and thereby choose to de-veil in the United States, a land of freedom and equality, even newspapers such as the New York Times, subtly imply that true freedom is only attained when the hijab is taken off (122). Unfortunately, this only serves to bolster the arguments of those who oppose the hijab, while further contributing to the generalizations of Hijabis in American society.

According to American author, Toni Morrison, media presentations “…deploy images and language that narrow our view of what humans look like (or ought to look like) and what in fact we are like. Succumbing to the perversions of media can blur our vision” (Morrison 138). By presenting Hijabi women as Islamic extremists or even as enablers of female oppression, the media leads to a great deal of misinterpretations within American society. Several Americans essentially misunderstand the symbol of the hijab and should therefore strive to approach the hijab with greater sensitivity. With a more open-minded approach, the American public can take the very first steps in order to achieve a more holistic view of the significance of the hijab to the women who wear it. While it is true that some women in the world may be coerced into wearing the hijab, it is important to recognize that a great deal of Hijabi women, especially in the United States, are not oppressed, making a conscious choice out of their own free will to engage in veiling.  Most women wear the hijab as an expression of their devotion to God and a declaration of their faith. At the same time, the implications and importance of the hijab can even go beyond religion.

Although the hijab is now often viewed as a symbol of oppression and the degradation of women, historically, the hijab was a sign of high status and respectability, adopted by women of the elite in the Byzantine, Greek, and Persian empires (Hoodfar 422). Several Hijabis assert that their hijab is a means to empower themselves and attain liberation from societal pressures. By choosing to veil, women deter the sexual objectification of their gender, thereby highlighting their inner qualities and virtues (Masra 1). The hijab represents an entire way of life, emphasizing values of modesty and morality, while deemphasizing the high regard given to visual appearances in contemporary society. Furthermore, the hijab is an important expression of identity that creates a sense of solidarity with other Muslim women. As a Hijabi once stated, “The veil is not a disease that holds us back. Rather it is the cause of our happiness…and we shall guard it carefully… [It] is our symbol and the symbol of our Muslim grandmothers” (Ahmed 44).  In the face of both prejudices and negative stereotypes, some women chose to wear the hijab even after 9/11 in order to convey their pride in their religious heritage and their Islamic community (209). For several individuals, the hijab served as means to assert to the general American public that their faith and sense of self-importance would not be shaken.

For many Muslim women, the hijab is a “lived experience” full of multiple and highly personal meanings (Hoodfar 421). Unfortunately in the wake of September 11^th, stereotypes disseminated by the media transformed this positive and empowering symbol into a negative sign of terrorism and oppression. My friend Fatima’s decision to remove her scarf highlights a growing sense among Muslim-American women that despite their constitutional rights, the hijab increasingly poses a hindrance to a woman’s professional and educational aspirations. Fatima began to believe that she had to make a choice between her dreams and her hijab, not truly having the ability to choose both. In light of the discrimination they face, Fatima and countless other Muslim-American women feel that Hijabis are at a disadvantage in both the school and workplace. Thus, in order to combat misrepresentations that promote discrimination, the media, which has the power to shape public opinion, should be utilized to educate the public by broadcasting the perspectives of Muslim-American women themselves, instead of the views of supposed experts or biased individuals.  As Islamic scholar Imam Hosseni stated, “…let’s not ask Barbara Walters about how Muslim women feel, let’s not ask CNN, ABC, FOX… if you want to be fair ask a Muslim woman” (Masra 1). By directly challenging misconceptions, while projecting the true meaning of the hijab, steps can be taken to reconcile the differences between our constitutional rights regarding religious freedom and the injustices faced by Hijabis.

 Works Cited

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