By Thomas E. Mitchell Jr

Muhammad Sabir, a fourth grade teacher at Lancaster School on the city's Northwest side, has always dealt with religious bias because of his Islamic faith.

When the attack on the World Trade Center in New York occurred on September 11, 2001, the bias and negative comments about Muslims and Islam (some of which, according to Sabir, comes from African American teachers) went from being inadvertently negative and naïve to open expressions of hatred for a religion and the people who practice it by those who know little about either.

Despite the hostility of misinformed individuals in and outside the school system, Sabir has managed to persevere and continue his work as a teacher, martial arts instructor and community activist impacting on the lives of disadvantaged youth each day.

But recent incidents related to his efforts to practice the tenets of his faith has prompted Sabir to speak out and expose the bias and hypocrisy within MPS towards teachers and students who practice Islam and other non-Judeo-Christian religions.

Sabir says a vice-principal at Lancaster is making it difficult for him to practice his faith. He also accused the administration of practicing a double standard in allowing teachers of non-Christian faiths to practice their religion.

While he said he is required to notify MPS central office officials that he is leaving the school building to attend a religious service required by Islam, Sabir said a fellow Lancaster teacher—who is Jewish—only has to notify school administrators.

"She's allowed to take time off for a religious observance held before the start of the Jewish Sabbath, and is gone for the rest of the afternoon," Sabir said in an interview.

Sabir made it clear he bears no animosity towards the teacher or her faith. He only noted her situation to point out the injustice he faces when trying to practice his own religion.

"For me to take off for 45 minutes to observe Juma, I need to give MPS documentation to exercise my constitutional right to practice my religion."

Repeated attempts were made to contact Lancaster's principal for comment, but she did not return the Community Journal's calls.

The clash Sabir has had with MPS in practicing his religion is nothing new. Though Sabir credits one vice-principal at a school at which he taught with being open-minded and flexible, another vice-principal was more rigid. Sabir believes the second vice-principal's inflexibility stemmed from his being new to his position.

"I've gone through MPS legal counsel to get permission to practice my religion," Sabir said. "The lawyer for the district told one vice-principal at Pleasant View School (a school at which Sabir once taught) that as long as I take time off (during the school day) without pay to attend religious service, there was nothing MPS could do about it."

Sabir says the religious prejudice he's faced in his almost 20 year teaching career is a microcosm of what teachers, parents and children of different religious backgrounds face daily within the district.

The Muslim educator believes there is an unwritten law in MPS that allows what he calls " persecution of people of different religions."

Also, Sabir says the district board and the administration don't have the ability to bring its employees to task for religious discrimination. "They say they are appalled, but they have no power to stop it."

An MPS spokesperson said he found it hard to believe Sabir's allegations, adding the district embraces diversity among its teachers, support staff and students.

"The district takes the equal rights of our staff and students very seriously," said Dan Donda, an official in MPS' office of Community/Public Affairs.

Sabir said the Milwaukee Teachers and Education Association (MTEA), the union representing Milwaukee Public School teachers, has no provisions in its current contract regarding religious or cultural discrimination.

The religious and cultural bias isn't restricted to Milwaukee. Sabir said he's heard horror stories of religious bias by teachers from other part's of the country who also practice Islam or other non-Christian religions.

To correct the problem of religious bias within the district, Sabir suggests requiring school administrators and teachers to take cultural sensitivity training "so comments by staff isn't injurious to people of different religious and cultural backgrounds."

Sabir praised the children for possessing a broader mind-set than the adults in the school system.

"The kids are more accepting. They have no bias," Sabir said. "They accept you the way you are in terms of religious and/or cultural background. Those things aren't a factor with them.

"However, the adults are less accepting," Sabir continued. "They're quick to express bias. That's a sad commentary for adults, especially for those with masters and Ph.D. degrees."

For the last eight years Sabir, who has been teaching since 1985, has been certified to become a vice-principal or principal of a Milwaukee public school. However, he's been denied requests to become a school administrator.

Sabir recalled the time he talked to a former principal—now retired—about his being denied advancement in the district.

"He told me that I'd been denied a number of positions because of my religious background," Sabir said, adding the former principal had been on a committee that reviewed applications for promotion to the administrative level.

"And he told me this only after he had retired," said Sabir.

"So here I am in a fourth grade classroom about to get my Ph.D., with enough credits for two masters degrees in curriculum administration and administrative leadership; with a bachelors degree and I'm still under utilized and mistreated because of my religious background."

Sabir said there are individuals who came into MPS as teachers the same time he did who are now principals or central office administrators.

"I'm not willing to play down my morals and religious beliefs or compromise my religion's dietary laws just to be accepted on the job or advance to the administrative level," Sabir said.

Though he has a grievance filed with the teacher's union regarding his treatment at Lancaster, Sabir says he may file suit with the EEOC as well, believing he will get little—if any—justice at the local level.