She wore a Muslim covering and was sent home.

[mahdokht]

***

[MirandaW]

I did not like the way the commisioner in the article seemed very inflexible and demeaning to the officer in question. So its okay to wear a weave in your hair if you are female, but not a simple scarf closed with velcro and tucked in her shirt? Give me a break.

Personally, I think that the Muslims they serve would be relieved to know the officer they are working with is a member of their community. It could be a great community relations builder.

But apparently non Christian beliefs, customs and people just aren't important to the Philly PD.

[AnnMarie]

Re: She wore a Muslim covering and was sent home.

Originally posted by mahdokht
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/6535907.htm



I dunno. The danger argument sounds silly to me. A shirt collar can be grabbed just as easliy and choke an officer. So long as its tucked in, I don't see the problem.

It is stupid. Like the article said, she could wear a special one that would come undone if someone did try to pull on it. This is just pure ignorance.

[Arduinna]

I agree with all of the previous posts. Not sure what else to say.

[mahdokht]

***

[MirandaW]

Originally posted by mahdokht

Its interesting that for so many the hijab is seen as a sign of a woman's weakness and oppression and here we have a police officer, a symbol of strength and authority sporting it. That is very cool. Maybe it will force people to re-think their stereotypes.

Warning: Former predjuces exposed.

When my oldest started school, another mother wearing a hijab was there picking up her kids as well. I figured that she must be one of those poor, dumb, opressed Muslim women who couldn't figure out that West was Best. Turns out her family has been in the US for decades and that she grew up in the US and other than her headcovering and lack of makeup, she was just another American mom.

For some reason, that was a real eye-opener to me. Now when I am out, instead of seeing poor opressed Muslim women, I see that individual women who share their personality and beliefs by how they wear their hair. I see it as something from their culture. No, since they are American, it is MY culture too. I don't mean to move in on customs and traditions not mine by birth, but the by virtue of the fact that we share the same community.

I hope that my kids won't find Muslim's in the US such a "strange" phenomenon.

[mahdokht]

***

[merpk]

... by mahdokht
... I wonder if a sikh police officer wearing a turban would have gotten this kind of problem...

Very probably he would. They might also give him grief for the long hair he has under that turban, and the long beard that he keeps tied up under it, too.



Don't know if I can find a link to it, but I remember it being a big deal a few years ago when an Orthodox Jew in upstate NY was allowed to keep his beard and peyot (sidecurls) when he was hired as a NYS police officer (don't remember if it was a county police force or the state police).

And a lot of Jewish women I know who "cover" wear sheitels (wigs) to job interviews. Otherwise they won't get the job, plain and simple.



Getting past difference is sometimes beyond people ...

[MirandaW]

T some more...

Why does this country automatically assume that religious women need to be barefoot in the kitchen? That they couldn't possibly interact in the world in any kind of meaningful non-child rearing, house cleaning manner? That, IMO, has always been more of a Christian Right kind of thing. It does not carry over into other religions necessarily.

And linking this back to Judge Moore, everyone has the constitutional right to be able to personally demonstrate their religious beliefs. As long as it doesn't impede getting one's job done and can be reasonably accomodated, whats the big deal?

And Mahkdhot, I listen to my family of birth and I simply shudder. I always of been more tolerant of others than they have been, but now we are such opposite wavelengths that it is hard to speak to them. I am trying to unracism and they deny that not everyone starts off with the inherent cultural advanges.

[merpk]

Aahhh, MirandaW, you've uncovered their favorite fall-back line. "Reasonable accomodation."

They'll say that a long beard ... or a tikhel, or a hijab, or a turban ... is a hazard, and therefore doesn't fall into the "reasonable accomodation" basket.

There was also recently a case at ... FedEx? UPS? ... where a Rastafarian man was told to cut his hair short or lose his job. And that was a matter of matching the company uniform, the corporate view of "neatness," and not a matter of safety. I don't remember how it turned out ... anybody?

[MirandaW]

Amy,

I winced at the "reasonable accomadation", but I couldn't think of a better term. And when I was the Army, I never understood why longer than buzz cut hair was considered "unhygenic" for a male, but a woman was not allowed to have a "many type hair cut". That didn't seem reasonable at all to me.

If a woman could wear dreads and do her job, why couldn't the Rasta man? Why can't things be more consistent and less dependant on Anglo-Saxon cultural hangups and inconsistancies.

Sorry, Amy. I didn't mean to bring up such a touchy subject.

Miranda

[mahdokht]

***

[MirandaW]

Double post - D'oh!

[phathui5]

But apparently non Christian beliefs, customs and people just aren't important to the Philly PD.

I don't think it's an issue of it being non-christian issue. In some sects of Christianity, the women wear head coverings, but I doubt they would be allowed to wear them in the Philly PD.

[merpk]

... by MirandaW

... Sorry, Amy. I didn't mean to bring up such a touchy subject.

:LOL

Not touchy at all.

It's just a subject I'm intensely opinionated on.

:LOL

[veggiewolf]

Originally posted by mahdokht
Someone mentioned in one of the threads here that they interviewed a woman in chador. I was like WOW a chador. I don't think I'd have the nerve to wear a chador to a job interview. I even know women who have worked in the corporate world wearing face veils. You can't be a sheep and do things like that, you have to be really strong to walk into a job interview, especially in a business climate where a micro mini is considered professional attire, and be completely covered.

That was me! When she walked in, I was amazed, simply because to wear chador to an interview said to me that she is proud of who she is and a strong woman. Unfortunately, the idiots I worked with at the time had no clue.

I live outside of Philly, and I wish I could say I'm amazed that it's an issue. Unfortunately, I'm not, knowing how that PD operates.

[JessicaS]

I don't know, does anyone have access to a copy of the uniform code for them?

A employer isn't allowed to discriminate on basis of religion it is posted in all places of employment. If they bent the rules to allow for facial hair for religious reason the whole "uniform policy" argument is moot.