Parents Speak Out After Teacher Presents Song About Islam To Seventh-Graders
ANAHEIM (CBSLA.com) — Amid heightened fears over terrorism, an Orange County teacher has found herself in trouble after ordering her class to sing a song about Islam.
The teacher says she was trying to teach her seventh-grade class about the religion of Islam by using a catchy tune.
Using the melody of the song "This Is My Fight Song," the teacher applied custom lyrics, such as:
"Like a sandstorm in the desert, sending camels into motion,
like how a single faith can make a heart open,
they might only have one god,
but they can make an explosion."
The song was then presented to her students.
Parents and grandparents, such as Nichole Negron and Susan Negron, found out about the song and appeared before the Oceanview School Board on Tuesday night to address the issue.
"I believe that by singing this song, the children feel comfortable believing that maybe Allah is the only god, and maybe that they should start following him," Susan argued. "And that I'm not OK with."
Negron says she wouldn't have known that the middle-schoolers were singing the song had her grandson not accidentally brought it home.
Local parents aren't the only ones speaking out.
Ojaala Ahmed with the Council for American Islamic Relations in Anaheim related the song to the recent terrorist attack in Paris.
"Especially with the recent attacks ISIS has been doing, knowing that this potentially Islamaphobic backlash might come about, what was the teacher's intention," Ahmed asked.
The school district released a statement of apology, and says it is looking into the matter.
