By Rumki Chowdhury
We have all been there at one point in our lives: we have asked ourselves the question, “Who am I?” In an ever-changing world, this is one constant that we attempt to tackle from childhood into adulthood. In our youth, we struggle to define ourselves, create our own identities and surround ourselves with people with whom we feel safe.
However, earlier this month, 7-year-old Sumaiyyah Wyatt felt unsafe in her own 2nd grade classroom with her 2nd grade teacher, Tamar Herman. Herman pulled off Sumaiyyah’s hijab, thereby revealing her hair to the entire class. “Your hair is beautiful,” proclaimed Herman.
That afternoon, having returned home from Seth Boyden Elementary School in Maplewood, NJ, Sumaiyyah told her parents about the incident after which they hired Attorney Robert L. Tarver Jr. to work on their case. They are asking for the immediate termination of Herman’s teaching position at the school.
After the teacher denied the allegation, Tarvar said that a classmate confirmed that the incident did, indeed, occur. Tarvar also said that Herman must have noticed Sumaiyyah wearing the hijab on a daily basis and should have, therefore, understood that it was for religious purposes.
Meanwhile, Sumaiyyah’s family is seeking justice for their daughter who has been humiliated and traumatized due to the experience. Her mother, Cassandra Wyatt, told WABC-TV, “She doesn’t want to wear the hijab anymore. Being Muslim, it’s not just a religion for us, it’s our lifestyle…. I have to go introduce her to a different world that I’ve been trying to protect her from…. She [Herman] had to know that was a hijab. She has to pay for that [pulling the hijab off]. I’d love for her to apologize to my daughter and then my daughter would feel better.”
As stated earlier in this post, in order to discover and embrace one’s own identity, one needs guidance, whether it is from a teacher, a guardian or a friend. Sumaiyyah had learned about Islam from her parents and wore the visible symbol of it on her head-the hijab. A teacher, instead of encouraging her to be proud of expressing herself, ripped her identity off her head in public.
Olympic Bronze Medalist and published author of “The Proudest Blue,” Ibtihaj Muhammad, wrote on her social media, “Imagine being a child and stripped of your clothing in front of your classmates? Imagine the humiliation and trauma this experience has caused her …. This is abuse. School should be a haven for all our kids to feel safe, welcome and protected-no matter their faith.”
Ron Ricci, a Totowa attorney who represents Herman, told NJ Advance Media, “The allegations posted by the Olympic fencer are 100 percent untrue” and that Herman assumed the hijab was a hood covering the girl’s eyes.
Meanwhile, investigation is ongoing with school officials telling media, “The district takes matters of discrimination extremely seriously. We remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our schools, including providing anti-bias and anti-racism training for all educators in the district on a regular basis.”
This may be defined as a “hate crime,” “harassment,” “assault,” “attack,” “islamophobia” or “hijabophobia.” The truth of the matter is that a 7-year-old girl is now struggling to rediscover a significant part of her identity that has literally been snatched away from her.
About author
Rumki Chowdhury is Editor of World Hijab Day Organization. She is an award-winning published author. She has an MA in English Literature from Queen Mary University of London, a BA in English Writing from William Paterson University of New Jersey and an English Subject Teaching Degree from Gävle Högskolan in Stockholm, Sweden. She speaks Bengali and Swedish fluently! She has years of experience in the media and publishing worlds. Rumki lives with her husband and their three daughters.
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