A passenger on Southwest Airlines thought it was appropriate to rip off the hijab of a fellow passenger. In December 2015, Gil Parker Payne noticed a Muslim woman wearing the traditional garment over her head. For many, the hijab represents modesty and a commitment to their religion. With the current climate of Islamophobia, many bigots think it is their duty to violate the privacy and constitutional rights of other people – simply because they feel offended.
Gil Parker Payne Violates Fundamental Human Rights
Payne spotted a fellow passenger wearing a hijab on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to New Mexico. Once the plane was in flight, Payne decided to stand up, walk towards the woman, and rip off her hijab after demanding that she take it off. He was able to rip the hijab completely off, leaving her head exposed.
A 37-year-old man from North Carolina, Payne plead guilty to the incident, with one count of intentionally obstructing a Muslim woman and her right to her religious beliefs.
Spike in Islamaphobia
There has been a noted rise in bigotry towards Muslim Americans in schools, online, and in almost every face in their everyday lives. Many may correlate the attacks with the terrorist attacks stemming from Islamic terrorist groups. However, instead of being exasperated and directing hate towards innocent Muslims and Muslim Americans, people like Payne should invest their efforts in dismantling ISIS at home, or fighting Islamic terrorism at its core in northern Syria and central Iraq.
Leaders Aren’t Helping
Presidential candidates and governors aren’t helping with the America’s state of Islamophobia, with individuals supporting the idea of banning all 1.6 billion Muslims from entering the United States, or having Muslim Americans walk around with identification tags. Some of our presidential nominees even lie, just to encourage more intolerance from an already weary populace.
All people – Muslim – or not, have the right to practice whatever religion they chose, without the ire of prejudice. A sentencing hearing for Payne has not been set yet.
Featured image by EDDIE on Flickr, available under an Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
