Muslim community rallies around Cambridge middle school student after attack

CAMBRIDGE, MD. — After an attack on a 12-year-old Mace’s Lane Middle School student in which classmates tore off her hijab, members of the Muslim community in D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia came to Cambridge for a community barbecue and educational event to show their support and to create positive awareness of Islam.

“We come out, we educate people. You know, we give you the shirt off our backs and help anyone who can be, and it’s not just about helping the Muslim child, but it’s about other people and it’s about, you know, we were saying it “that other children are being bullied in general,” said Sabur Carter of Masjid Al-Hidaayah of Germantown MD.

The student; 12-year-old Tori Gibbs, her mother Latoya Gibbs and religious leaders, including a group of representatives from Masjid Ad-Da’wah Ilat Tawhid,
A Baltimore-based Islamic mosque led by its imam Raha Batts met with the Dorchester County superintendent Wednesday before the event to discuss how the district could better manage its response and prevent future incidents.

Gibbs says she is touched by the support she is receiving and that the community is there in full force.

“Seeing all the people and talking to the Muslims who came from far away and talking to them. “It’s kind of exciting because you don’t see a lot of Muslims down here,” she said, adding that she hopes the school district gets involved.

“I hope they could just listen better, because even if the students don’t report anything and the parents talk to them, they would say, ‘Well, yeah, we understand that this is happening, but we can do it.’ I won’t do anything do something about it. “You can at least try to make the situation at school and on the bus better for other people,” she said.

Batts tells 47ABC he wants the district to take all forms of bullying seriously, especially when a student is attacked for who they are.

“This is not just a problem in this district, but it is a problem nationwide. And so we talked about the importance of finding solutions to address the lack of intervention, because if it’s not Tori, it’s going to be someone else,” Batts said, adding that he would like to provide awareness training for the Employees would see how to deal with such problems in the future.

During the cookout, Gibbs made up with a classmate who had taken off her hijab. Gibbs’ mother says the students behind the attack need to know they did more than just attack her daughter or remove a piece of clothing.

“It’s extremely hurtful to go through with it, and I think a lot of people need to understand how important it is not to do that and that we need to be covered,” she said.

They hope the cookout with Carter can be a positive way for the community to learn about Islam and turn something hurtful into a learning moment.

“We believe that Islam is a beautiful religion,” he said, adding: “We believe in coming face to face with people and spreading what Islam is really about.” Islam is created and what it really stands for.”

In a statement to WMDT, Dorchester County School said the following:

Now interim superintendent of Dorchester County Public Schools, Dr. Jymil Thompson and
Mace’s Lane Middle School Principal, Ms. Patricia Prosser, met with a representative from Mace’s Lane Middle School
Student, her mother and a group of representatives from Masjid Ad-Da’wah Ilat Tawhid,
a Baltimore-based Islamic mosque led by its imam Raha Batts over allegations of Islamophobic bullying of the student. “It was a very constructive meeting,” said Dr. Thompson. “The
The family has been heard and we take their concerns seriously.”
Dr. Thompson also said he believes better communication with and between families could help
Resolve conflicts and improve communication between school and home. “The school and
“The community needs to work together to prevent small problems from becoming big ones,” he agreed
The Imam’s suggestion to work together on a program to raise awareness of bullying in schools.
“It makes sense to use the school where the young people of the community come together for support
Education against bullying. I look forward to working with the Imam on this project.”