Posted on 10/20/2011 4:48:50 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
You can wear a Muslim head scarf, and you can wear the uniform of the Junior ROTC. Just not at the same time.
That’s the word from the U.S. Army, which is supporting an officer’s ruling last month that a 14-year-old Tennessee girl could not wear her traditional head covering while in uniform at a parade.
The student, Demin Zawity, of Brentwood, Tenn., quit the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Ravenwood High School and returned to regular gym classes when commanding officers said she had to take off her hijab if she wanted to march in the homecoming parade.
"It was during Spirit Week. We were getting ready for the homecoming parade and the head officer said that I wouldn't be able to wear the head scarf while I had the uniform on," Demin said.
"I said that it was a religious thing and that I really couldn't take it off.”
***
"We as a school system are bound to the regulations of the Army. We cannot conduct the program unless we follow the regulations," said Jason Golden, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for the school district.
"We were practicing all week and the day before the parade he pulled me over to the side and said that I couldn't march," Demin recalled, speaking of her senior officer. "I wanted to break down and cry right there, but I held it in and went into stoic mode."
But Demin’s family feels she is being discriminated against, and has reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is calling on the school district and the Department of Defense to change a policy that it says "effectively bars a Muslim student from participating in the class."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The most disturbing thing about this story is that the school district and the Army are taking this seriously at all.
Not happening unless they perceive themselves as being Sikhs.... =.=
... always pushing the envelope, always ...
The problem is that the Army has made exceptions for Sikhs without changing the AR 670-1.
The OIC made the right call in asking higher and higher made the right call in saying it’s outside the regs.
My main beef with sikhs and anyone else wanting to buck the regs is that serving in the military is *not* a right. Plenty of Americans willing to put on the proper uniform are denied entry because of previous crimes, minor physical issues, etc.
Warrior Ethos states, “I will always place the mission first.” It doesn’t say, “I will always place the mission first, unless my religion says I can’t.”
We have female soldiers in Afghanistan wearing them to appease the Muzzies (instead of Kevlar helmets!!), so I guess why not?
A resounding...HELL NO!!
And we are always giving in, always...
‘Cause they are in Afghanistan trying to win hearts and minds, not marching in formation in the US of A.
And I wanted to wear my Bud Lite ballcap during my basic training in ‘87. I just wasn’t stupid or conceited enough to think the Army would change their rules for me.
I am offended by those who worship a pedophile.
Get the h311 out of my country.
The story doesn’t say what her family background is, but if she wants to wear that thing on her head, I suggest she return to her ancestral lands and try pushing the envelope there. When in Rome...
My guess is, it's for the specific purpose of pulling a stunt like this.
Clearly someone doesn’t understand the definition of “uniform”.
Oh, and that’s an interesting link. I had no idea that symbol had become anathema as early as 1933.
Poor widdle Muslim wanted to cry.....boo-hoo. Accept our ways of life and our rules or pack up and leave.
Does she cry when innocent people are slaughtered in the name of her “religion”? My guess is no.
yes, incrementalism.
with communism, islam, etc.
They are allowing it now, but the issue is that this change is not reflected in the regulation. That makes the situation untenable for company grade officers. Why can the Sikhs wear a turban against regulations but the Muslim females can’t wear a hijab?
If you put in the regs that a Sik can wear a turban, why wouldn’t you allow the hijab?
Best answer: neither are allowed.
AR 670-1 Sec. 1-7
(2) Soldiers may wear religious headgear while in uniform if the headgear meets the following criteria.
(a) It must be subdued in color (black, brown, green, dark or navy blue, or a combination of these colors).
(b) It must be of a style and size that can be completely covered by standard military headgear, and it cannot
interfere with the proper wear or functioning of protective clothing or equipment.
(c) The headgear cannot bear any writing, symbols, or pictures.
(d) Personnel will not wear religious headgear in place of military headgear when military headgear is required
(outdoors, or indoors when required for duties or ceremonies).
Neither had I before I found that site.
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