The outfit allows her to compete while adhering to her Muslim faith, which forbids displaying any skin other than her face and hands.

That's a lie, isn't it? Where in Islamic scripture does it state that Muslim women are forbidden from showing any skin except their face and hands?

There is no picture and no background information, but I am going to assume that Juashaunna Kelly is "Nation of Islam", which I think most Muslims would not consider to be the same thing as Islam, and more than Christians consider Mormons to be Christian. So what's your stake in this? It seems to me to be an American issue, for Americans to resolve, as Americans see fit. And here in the US, our concept of "religious freedom" means that nobody gets special treatment due to their religion. We all are treated the same. It's a basic concept of equality. Maybe they should have made an exception in her case, but as soon as the first person objected to her attire (which is what I assume happened, probably one of the other coaches objected to eliminate the competition) they would have been required to enforce the rules.

PS-If you want to make a case for religious discrimination in the US, look for instances where Muslims are singled out and treated differently than non-Muslims. That's unequal treatment, and it's a violation of civil rights laws.

Craig, I believe you got the whole thing misunderstood. MMM is not making this a a "case for religious discrimination in the US" he's stating the fact that there is indeed discrimination against Muslims, let it be the US, Europe or elsewhere and it is not acceptable especially in countries claiming freedom of expression and interfering in the affairs of our part of the world to implement "democracy" and promote "co-existence".

Now back to the post itself, I guess your knowledge of Islam is quite fine but not really enough to claim Muslims are lying and stating rules of their own concerning Muslim clothing.

You say: "And here in the US, our concept of "religious freedom" means that nobody gets special treatment due to their religion. We all are treated the same. It's a basic concept of equality."
What's the special treatment you're talking about? just because her uniform covers her whole body and hair does not mean she's seeking special treatment!!!
If she asked anyone to be easy on her, sympathize with her, or whatever, then she's asking to be treated differently, all she did was ask for her right to perform wearing what she's comfortable with,which, by the way, doesn't have anything to offend or affect anyone. I mean come on, anyone with sun-allergies would wear that and would simply get away with it!

But as you said, it's in the US and Americans should do whatever they see fit in their country.. but in that case PLEASE don't claim that you are to teach us what freedom is all about, and please do not interfere in our own business either!

From reading the post it would appear that the objection is because the outfit violates the only one colour 'Uniforms are required to be "a single-solid color and unadorned, except for a single school name or insignia no more than 2 1/4 inches," he said.' - her outfit is described at blue and orange. So, nothing to do with being a Muslim.

Christine, that's right, this is what they claimed to be wrong only this year. I read the whole article MMM provided the link for and it turns out they've been making up excuses, the "a single-solid color and unadorned, except for a single school name or insignia no more than 2 1/4 inches," is only the last excuse they come up with.
In the article it says:
"First, they said she had to take her hood off," Sarah Kelly said. "Then, they said she can't have anything with logos displayed. Then, they said she had to turn it inside out. When I told them that there weren't any logos on it, they said she had to put a plain white T-shirt on over it."
Juashaunna Kelly has worn the same uniform for three years without any problems, including at last year's Montgomery Invitational. Rogers said officials must have missed the uniform last year.

"It wasn't a problem last year, and it's a problem this year? Make me understand why," Bowden said.

Eman,

Craig, I believe you got the whole thing misunderstood. MMM is not making this a a "case for religious discrimination in the US" he's stating the fact that there is indeed discrimination against Muslims

So he's asserting something as fact, without "making a case" and presenting any evidence? Is that what you mean by this statement? If do, do you find that to be acceptable? Do you accept things as fact just because somebody says they are?

Now back to the post itself, I guess your knowledge of Islam is quite fine but not really enough to claim Muslims are lying and stating rules of their own concerning Muslim clothing.

Again, you say I'm wrong when I say there is nothing in Islam that forbids women from showing any skin expect their face and hands, but you give no evidence to prove me wrong.

Now let me ask you, do you consider Nation of Islam to be Islam? I suggest you do a little investigation into what Nation of Islam is, before you answer.

What's the special treatment you're talking about? just because her uniform covers her whole body and hair does not mean she's seeking special treatment!!!

If she is permitted to wear a uniform that doesn't comply with the established rules, that is special treatment.

all she did was ask for her right to perform wearing what she's comfortable with,which, by the way, doesn't have anything to offend or affect anyone.

She doesn't have any such "right". Nobody does. People who compete in team sports are required to wear the school uniform. They are required to comply with the rules of play. So on and so forth.

I mean come on, anyone with sun-allergies would wear that and would simply get away with it!

No, I don't think so. I actually ran track and cross-country when I was in high school, and not only do I not recall anyone who was a hardcore competitive athlete having "sun allergies" but I don't recall anyone being allowed to violate the rules, either. Coaches just LOVE excuses to disqualify the other team's members.

But as you said, it's in the US and Americans should do whatever they see fit in their country.. but in that case PLEASE don't claim that you are to teach us what freedom is all about, and please do not interfere in our own business either!

Hey, I'd have been in support of this post if there was a civil rights violation here. But all I see is a politically motivated and baseless attack on the US.

Well first of all, I want to clarify something, I'm in no way attacking the US in this post. The school could have been anywhere in the world and I'd have written the same post.
I'm only against the decision to disqualify the girl over something she's wearing because of a belief of hers.

What I think of the Nation of Islam doesn't really matter in the context of this story; Let's even forget that the religion is Islam; let's just look at it this way: This girl believes in something because of her religion, nobody had a problem with it for years, and now they just start going on about the uniform, how she should wear a white t-shirt over it, ...etc.
If there's a problem with the uniform, why didn't they bring it up before? At least if they did from the beginning, it'd be obvious that it's a law that everyone has to respect; but if the law was flexible for 3 seasons, why apply it now?

MC officials didn't disqualify her; the referees did. Apparently the type of outfit had nothing to do with it, just its color scheme. And she and her coach had plenty of prior warning: She said she has been questioned about her uniform before every meet in which she has competed.

if the law was flexible for 3 seasons, why apply it now?

Because at some point they have to stop being so flexible and enforce the principle that no contestant is allowed privileges over another. The student did mention the belief that the headgear gave her a speed advantage, but for a Muslim that was understandable. It was the ADDITIONAL privilege of two colors that riled people. It's intimidating to contestants: "Why should I compete when this girl is getting all the breaks?"

After 3 years, it must have been clear that the student and her coach were fully cognizant yet had no intention of complying with the rules. Only when the student had been disqualified did the coach mouth "Religion!" as the reason.

I blame the coach. He should have known what this would lead to, eventually. His student had to suffer for his failing. All too often, that's the way it is.

And yet, this girl had teammates who wore the same color scheme. Did they share her fate or not? Was this girl singled out solely because she was the best and the only Muslim?

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008 GAZETTE.NET
Officials: Religion not issue in runner’s exclusion
Incident involving the color of a Muslim girl’s uniform ‘has
been blown out of proportion,’ District administrator says
by Chay Rao and Stephanie Siegel | Staff Writers
Montgomery school officials recently came under fire for being insensitive and even racist after a Muslim girl was told she could not participate in a county track meet because of her uniform, which covered her head, arms and legs in accordance with Muslim customs.
But according to Montgomery County Public Schools officials, religion had nothing to do with the ruling made by an event referee and MCPS employees had no authority to overrule the decision.
‘‘This has been a colossal misunderstanding,” said Kate Harrison, MCPS spokeswoman.
Juashuanna Kelly, a senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Washington, was told she could not run in the Jan. 12 Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet because the garment she wore did not conform to color standards. Kelly, who is Muslim, was wearing a half-blue and half-orange unitard and head covering under her track uniform.
National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Indoor Track and Field guidelines state that a runner must wear a single-colored tracksuit under a school jersey — a rule to help identify runners at the finish line in case of close finishes.
‘‘The uniform rules are clearly stated within the rule book. ... If she had worn a solid color, she would have been fine. It was something that could have been avoided early on,” said Becky Oakes, assistant director of NFHS. ‘‘No one wants the athlete DQ’d.”
Kelly, who had worn the special uniform to other meets, including the Montgomery Invitational last year, had been granted a waiver for meets in Washington, according to Allen Chin, director of athletics for District of Columbia Public Schools.
‘‘I feel sorry for the young girl, but frankly, this is something that has been blown out of proportion,” Chin said.
After being told she could participate if she wore a single-colored, long-sleeved T-shirt over the unitard, Kelly and her coach, Tony Bowden, decided to withdraw from the race, Harrison said. Kelly was not disqualified, according to Harrison.
‘‘Religion had no factor in the decision over whether she could participate,” she said.
Bo Meyers, a hired official who is qualified as a ‘‘master referee” by USA Track and Field, the national governing body for track and field sports, made the ruling, Harrison said.
Oakes said Kelly had time to make a change if she wanted. ‘‘Everything was handled properly by meet officials according to the rules,” she said.
However, for many in the Muslim community, barring Kelly from the meet because of the colors of her unitard was the wrong decision.
‘‘The people who made this decision were very insensitive,” said Rashid Makhdoom, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Muslim Council, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting Muslim interests and involvement in the county. ‘‘I think there should be some sensitivity training. There is some feeling that there might be some kind of race [discrimination] involved.”
Harrison said training to make employees aware of cultural and religious differences is already required for school system employees; however, Meyers and other athletic officials are not considered MCPS employees.
One MCPS employee who was criticized for the decision was meet director Tom Rogers, a track and field coach at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. Rogers was blamed by some for upholding the decision not to let Kelly participate.
‘‘There has been an enormous barrage of angry and even threatening letters,” Harrison said.
But it was never Rogers’ role to say who was allowed to compete, she said.
‘‘His role was as an administrator, to take care of the business aspects,” Harrison said.
Rogers was in charge of making sure the track and equipment was ready, sending out the invitations and hiring the officials, among other duties.
Makhdoom believes an exception could have been made for Kelly.
‘‘She has sacrificed quite a bit of her religious beliefs and compromised to participate,” he said.
‘‘Our religious beliefs are such that women, especially, are not supposed to show the body. I would call it a compromise,” he said of the garment Kelly wore. While it covered her skin, it was still tighter than clothes traditional Muslim women wear, he said.
The perception that Kelly was singled out for her religion is damaging for community relations between Muslims and others, he said.
In years past, several runners have competed in the Montgomery Invitational wearing head coverings, including Shakira Raheem, who competed for Albert Einstein High School before graduating in 2007, and Fatima Abbas, who ran for Rogers at Walter Johnson before graduating in 1999.
‘‘The head covering itself was never a violation,” Rogers said. ‘‘Fatima ran with a hejab for four years, and she never had any problems.”
He said there was another athlete, a boys hurdler from James Robinson High School in Virginia, who was not allowed to compete at the Montgomery Invitational this month because of uniform violations similar to Kelly’s.
‘‘The torso of [Kelly’s] undergarment was multicolored, which was the same problem that the kid from Robinson had,” Rogers said. ‘‘The implication was religious discrimination, but that was absolutely not the case. It is a very one-sided view that has been out there and that has been hurtful.”

Maryland Community Newspapers Online
http://www.gazette.net/stories/013008/montnew64001_32378.shtml