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Woman claims Greyhound denied her travel because of burqa
Jacqueline Pasha attempted to travel by Greyhound to Arkansas in December, but she didn't succeed. And Greyhound acknowledges this. The story becomes fuzzy, however, in the details.Pasha was wearing her burqa when she tried to board the bus. According to Pasha, a staff member at the terminal said she looked scary. Pasha then proceeded to request that she be checked in a room separate from the main area, but the employee (the one who allegedly used the word 'scary' to describe her appearance) wouldn't do it, citing security concerns.
Although Greyhound denies any form of discrimination in this case, Pasha is steadfastly seeking justice. She's lodged a complaint with the Department of Human Rights by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"I am shocked that this happened in Chicago," Pasha said. "I am not the only Muslim woman wearing a burqa out here."
I realize that this kind of discrimation is much more widespread than I'd like to believe, but Chicago? Greyhound? Come on! Lets hope this one was a giant miscommunication rather than yet another reason to believe we're not as openminded, as a whole, as we advertise.
[Thanks, Northwestern.edu]
[photo by Vanessa Brown]
Filed under: Activism, Stories, North America, United States, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
marvin nubwaxer Feb 2nd 2011 10:57AM
it ain't halloween. take off the ghost outfit. no one wants to be riding with someone in a disguise.
Shells Feb 4th 2011 3:57PM
It disturbs me that this woman has a legal recourse for this sort of thing. Forget the whole discrimination/religion thing: Greyhound is a private company. They have every right to serve people they choose and to deny service to whoever they choose. For her to demand they serve her is nonsensical; she has no claim to them, their services, their buses, anything. It's not hers.
If you accept that she has a "right" to demand they serve her when they don't want to, you're essentially giving sanction to slavery. That sounds harsh, but think about it - you're forcing them to do something they don't want to do. What other definition of slavery could be more appropriate?
As for the discrimination issue. It's not that she's Muslim, it's that she's wearing an outfit (a symbol of disgusting oppression of women that offends me gravely even though I'm male) which completely covers her body. Anything can be concealed under an outfit like that, and let's face it, that's happened. Someone looking like she does is far more likely to be blowing up buses than your average person. Even if she's not carrying bombs, the discomfort and nervousness a person like her creates on the bus, amongst the passengers, is plenty of legitimate reason for Greyhound to deny her service.
I don't think this is an example of religious discrimination. It's an example of common sense - knowing how to avoid making your customers worry about a very real, though small, chance of terrorism. No matter the cause, it's Greyhound's service to give and not give. I fully support them and hope they win this case.
jd Feb 18th 2011 12:43PM
Let's put the burka on the other foot. A casually dressed American (shorts, tank top, flip flops) would surely be arrested in a third world Muslim cess pool. Then the argument about loud obnoxious Americans would start.