Controversy has sparked in the student body, about the number of days given off to certain religious holidays. Have you ever noticed some days that a lot of kids miss school for a certain holiday. Those days are religious holidays that the school does not acknowledge by making the day off. Some say it has to do with the number of days we are required to be in school. Schools are required to give the students enough days to make up their work and to get caught up on any lessons missed. Students are demanding more, “No it’s not, it’s not fair in specific Easter or Christmas they get the day off and I feel like to respect their religions and beliefs they should be spent with family and not wondering should I really miss school I have a test, or do I want to celebrate my religion with my family. Other people aren’t faced with that choice so why us” Samir Sadig ‘18 Sadig Identifies with being Agnostic but practices his Muslim Faith with his family. Steps are being taken by the student body to bring more attention to the topic via clubs.

Members of these clubs feel as though nothing major has happened and that more attention needs to be drawn to the topic and more people need to join the clubs to fully understand what they are about, as there are many misconceptions about what these clubs are discussing and the majority of people in them. Some think it is simply an anti-white people club and all they do is rant but that simply isn’t true.

 

Yes the majority of members are people of color but more happens than just rants. Events such as the Walk it Out West fashion show were planned and topics such as this one are discussed and solutions to these problems are also compiled. Samir states, “For lack of a better way to put this. The white demographic doesn’t want to feel targeted and that what they are doing is wrong even though that it is and they don’t want to realize that it’s a problem so they just put it aside.” He gives this as a reason for the unpopularity of the clubs. Both Christians and Muslims feel some form of prejudice toward their religion. Sadig states, “Yes definitely you know there are stereotypes that we are terrorists and we are bad people…this religion is so nice a peaceful but it’s sad to see that this is how they perceive me, even the president elect right now.”

On the flip side West High Varsity Football player Cole Mabry ‘19 explains, “I don’t, I mean for the most part [I] don’t in some classes I feel as a Christian they kind of…it’s kind of assumed that you’ll think certain ways not necessarily prejudice” This problem seems to affect more of the Muslim population. Jewish students at West High also miss school for the holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In conclusion those affected feel this is a topic that is affecting a big demographic of the Iowa City School District, and this problem needs to be focused on and change needs to happen.