Today in Trump’s America
A Gwinnett County high school teacher said she was left a note in class Friday telling her that her Muslim headscarf “isn’t allowed anymore.”
“Why don’t you tie it around your neck & hang yourself with it…,” the note said, signed “America!”
Mairah Teli, 24, who teaches language arts at Dacula High, said she feels the note is in reaction to Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential race.
“I feel children feel safe making comments that are racist or sexist because of him,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Gwinnett County Schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach said in an email that the district is “doing all it can to identify the person who wrote and left this note.”
Teli said the administration and fellow teachers were very supportive after she informed them she found the note.
Teli, a California native who grew up in Gwinnett, suspected it was from a student.
She said she was shocked and disturbed but worked to be measured when she addressed class. She told the students she was happy to speak with them if there were questions about her hijab.
Swastikas and other inappropriate images were spray-painted on school banners, sidewalks and telephone poles at Burning Tree Elementary School in Bethesda over the weekend, according to Assistant Principal Gabby Bellagamba.
Bellagamba sent an email to parents late Sunday night informing them that Montgomery County police are investigating the incident. The assistant principal said the graffiti has been covered and “will be removed as soon as possible.”
Gboyinde Onijala, a Montgomery County Public Schools spokeswoman, said maintenance crews will be at the school Monday to remove the graffiti.
Police said Monday the vandalism was reported on Sunday morning by a member of a Jewish congregation that holds weekly services at the school. An image of male genitalia was also spray painted on the banner, which was posted near the school entrance, according to police. The school is at 7900 Beech Tree Road.
Heck, maybe over the next 4 years, the greatest Jewish-Muslim unity alliance in the world will develop in the U.S. has both have to survive the racist hell of unleashed Trump supporters.