MEMPHIS – A teacher in the US state of Tennessee has been suspended after a video of her ripping off the hijab of a student emerged online.
According to US media, the teacher’s Snapchat account posted two videos with the captions ‘pretty hair,’ and ‘LOL all that hair cover up,’ which were forwarded by a user to the local media.
The video was recorded at the New Vision Academy Charter school in Nashville and the principle of institute took strong action after being moved by activists.
Before their suspension, the teacher had denied making the video and said the girl’s hijab was not removed out of disrespect, said the school’s head, Tim Malone.
‘The actions depicted in the Snapchat video do not reflect the values, culture or climate of New Vision Academy,’ Mr. Malone said in a statement.
The teacher was suspended without pay while the investigations are underway. The teacher remains suspended for five days.
According to a report by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the number of hate crimes committed in the United States swelled in 2016 for the second consecutive year, with African-Americans, Jews and Muslims targeted in many of the incidents.
There were 6,121 hate crime incidents recorded last year, an almost 5 percent rise from 2015 and a 10 percent increase from 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hate Crimes Statistics report said on Monday.
