Students in Houston violently assaulted in Islamophobic attack – yet school does nothing

Three students at Paul Revere Middle School in Houston have been violently attacked in a likely Islamophobic attack. Three hijabi Afghan girls were attacked by a group of 20 fellow students. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found that:

One student was reportedly beaten so severely that she became unresponsive to teachers and was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center, where she remained for four days.

She is now required to wear a neck brace and continues to suffer both physical and emotional trauma from the assault.

The Houston chapter of CAIR have spoken to the families of the attacked students, and then explained:

The girls were allegedly attacked based on their ethnicity and discriminated against because they wore the Islamic headscarf (hijab) when the group wrongfully targeted them for what was believed by the families to be a case of mistaken identity over middle school drama in the school.

However, the girls school district doesn’t appear to have their back.

Houston attack at Paul Revere Middle School

Houston Press, a local paper, referred to an unnamed spokesperson of the administrators of the school, Houston Independent School District (HISD). They reported:

This spokesperson also said that this was not a case of mistaken identity as the families thought might be the case. Instead, it was it due to an underlying conflict not because she was wearing an Afghan wearing a hijab. [sic]

Presumably, they meant ‘an Afghan girl wearing a hijab.’ And, the spokesperson from HISD contradicts many of the details from the girls parents and CAIR themselves. They said:

While some of the details shared in CAIR’s press release do not match the facts of the investigation, the district shares CAIR’s belief that the incident warranted both consequences for the aggressors and care for the victim. 

HISD also insisted that there was one victim, not three:

Although the CAIR report alleged that three Afghan girls wearing hijabs were attacked, beaten and stabbed with pencils, the HISD spokesperson said it was only one victim — she was taken to the hospital where she stayed for several days and was placed in a neck brace. The mother of that girl, when meeting with school officials, asked that not only her daughter but the other two girls be moved to another school.

Regardless of how many children ended up in hospital, it is clear that three students were attacked. In a video posted by CAIR a large group of students can be seen attacking the three Afghan girls.

The attitude of the district’s spokesperson is a disappointing and damning display of hostility towards the attacked girls. Instead of listening to CAIR’s expertise and testimony from the girls and their parents, they chose to debate details and insist that the girl who was hospitalised:

was not targeted because of her identity but because of previous conflict with the group of seven girls who attacked her

‘Traumatised’

In a report from local news station KPRC 2 Houston, two of the girls and a parent spoke to reporters. One of the girls, who have been anonymised for her safety, explains that a large group of students forcibly pulled off their hijabs and beat them. Another girl recounts how she was beaten and bloodied.

However, the journalist at the scene notices contradictions from HISD in response to the horrific attack. Jaewon Jung reports that:

We reached out to HISD, and the district gave us a conflicting statement. District officials told us there was only one victim and seven aggressors although you can clearly see more than seven students in the cell phone video.

William White, director of the Houston chapter of CAIR, responded:

It is absolutely unacceptable for any student to be allegedly violently assaulted and then abandoned by the very institution that is supposed to protect them.

These students came to this country in search of safety and stability—what they endured instead is a complete failure of accountability and compassion. HISD must act immediately to ensure their safety, support their healing, hold the students responsible accountable, and send a clear message that violence and bias will not be tolerated in our schools.

Islamophobia in Houston

The fact that the district chose to challenge testimony from the girls and their parents, and experts at CAIR is abhorrent. There are reports that the girl’s requested transfers to other schools were a protracted process.

The fact is, it’s only CAIR’s advocacy that has drawn further attention to the case. It’s deeply unfortunate that their intervention was necessary for the district to do the bare minimum for their students.

HISD’s refusal to acknowledge the Islamophobia and racialisation behind the attacks is disappointing but typical of a hostile environment for Muslims. It’s entirely possible that the students involved had their own interpersonal issues in addition to this being a racialised attack against visibly Muslim children.

A refusal to consider the attack an Islamophobic one is dangerously short-sighted and shows how unsafe the Houston district is for Muslim students.

Featured image via screengrab