Muslim Mau-Mauing

My latest Washington Examiner column, "Connecticut Teacher Encourages Muslim Mau-mauing," asks what a Connecticut high school teacher's request for student volunteers to advertise her class by wearing a burqua or other traditional Muslim garb around school has to do with ongoing efforts by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to take advantage of situations in which Muslims are harassed, even when the offenses are manufactured.

Observations not included in the column:

1. Note the obsequious tone of the Hartford Courant's reporter who first wrote about the episode on March 12, especially in her description of CAIR:

CAIR is dedicated to promoting better understanding of Islam and Muslims through public education and interfaith cooperation and to defend American Muslims' civil and human rights, according to its website.

2. The teaching of Middle East studies in high schools too often mirrors university pedagogy, which consistently takes on an advocacy role, thereby substituting indoctrination for education and politicizing the curriculum.

3. When non-Muslims dress in traditional Muslim garb in an effort to show solidarity with Muslims, the premise of their actions draws on this same pedagogy and the more general culture of vicitmization that pervades American universities. It claims, "I know you are oppressed, and I stand with you." This element of the politicization of higher education helps to explain why non-Muslim women at the University of Missouri at Columbia recently sported scarves as part of the national "Scarves for Solidarity Campaign."

(Cross-posted at Campus Watch)