UC Irvine

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September 23, 2011 | 2:27 PM | By

Were the ‘Irvine 11′ student protesters singled out for being Muslim?

Photo by Shirley Jahad/KPCC

Supporters of the "Irvine 11" students outside the courthouse today after guilty verdict was announced

An Orange County jury late this morning found 10 students known as the ‘Irvine 11′ guilty on two misdemeanor counts, one of conspiracy and one of disturbing a meeting, for their interruption of a speech by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren at UC Irvine last year. Prosecutors had argued that the students, from UCI and UC Riverside, “shut down” the ambassador with their repeated heckling; the defense argued that the students were exercising their right to free speech.

The free speech component has made the case national news, but there have also been allegations of ethnic and religious bias, with some pointing to a climate of discrimination against Muslims that in the last year has prompted actions ranging from protests against the building of mosques to hate crimes directed at people perceived to be Muslims.

This week, the Orange County Register ran an opinion piece from the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ executive director and staff attorney Ameena Mirza Qazi titled “Irvine 11’s’ speech infringed because they’re Muslim.”

Qazi pointed out how hecklers who interrupted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year in New Orleans weren’t subject to the same punishment, writing:

It is quite common for shouts, jeers, hooting, stand-ups, walk-outs and sit-downs to occur during political gatherings. In fact, a similar protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu involving Jewish students occurred in the fall of 2010, and the protesters received not so much as a scolding.

The difference here, however, is that these Irvine 11 young men are Muslim, exercising their rights to critique inhumane Israeli policies in a growing anti-Muslim environment.

In the comments from around the world that have flooded Twitter since the verdict was announced, some of those voicing anger about it have said more or less the same.

Tweeting from London, @Babul7862 wrote:
There u have it, free speech applies to A.N.other except if yr Muslim. A travesty!
Referring to a protest last year, @FourYawkeyWay wrote:
teaparty types can bring their guns to an Obama protest. the #irvine11 though go to jail for bringing just their conscience.

Others, however, have pointed out that the circumstances of the speech played a part, among other things saying it was an invitation-only event, although it was open to UCI students. In a growing comment thread on the website for KPCC’s AirTalk show, which featured a segment this morning on the trial, a listener named Brian posted:

Free speech is a fundamental right no doubt, but lets pull this issue apart. Regardless of what you think about this issue your right to free speech needs to be weighed against someone else right to free speech and someone else right to listen freely. When questions of the first amendment come into play you have to look at the forum.

Where was this protest being held? Was it a traditional public forum? A non-public forum? if it was a public forum was it an open public forum? layer that over this issue…this was a PRIVATE event a NON-PUBLIC event. Your fundamental right to free speech does not apply the same in non-public forums as it does say at a public park. These 11 chose to enter a non-public forum, disrupt the event, and are trying to usurp the first amendment protections to justify their illegal behavior.

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FILED UNDER: Irvine 11, Muslim Student Union, UC Irvine
May 3, 2011 | 12:35 PM | By

Creating race: How the ‘Hispanic or Latino’ category came to be

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

A sticker spotted on a Los Angeles freeway, February 2011

An interesting article published by the Migration Policy Institute examines the racialization of those who make up the “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish Origin” category on census forms.

Written by UC Irvine sociologist Rubén Rumbaut, a veteran chronicler of the immigrant experience, the piece delves into the history of racial and ethnic classifications, and on the impact that what began as an administrative move to classify people of Latin American ancestry has had on how they now define themselves in terms of race.

Rumbaut writes:

Are Hispanics a “race” or, more precisely, a racialized category? In fact, are they even a “they?” Is there a Latino or Hispanic ethnic group, cohesive and self-conscious, sharing a sense of peoplehood in the same way that there is an African American people in the United States? Or is it mainly administrative shorthand devised for statistical purposes; a one-size-fits-all label that subsumes diverse peoples and identities?

The article details the history of “Hispanic” census self-identification, which dates to the late 1960s. A Spanish-origin identification category was added to the 1970 census long-form questionnaire, first tested in the November 1969 Current Population Survey. From the start the results were uneven, with disparity between who identified as “Hispanic” and those with a Spanish surname:

For example, in the Southwest, only 74 percent of those who identified themselves as Hispanic had Spanish surnames, while 81 percent of those with Spanish surnames identified themselves as Hispanic. In the rest of the country, 61 percent of those who self-identified as Hispanic had Spanish surnames, and a mere 46 percent of those with Spanish surnames self-identified as Hispanic.

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FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Migration Policy Institute, Ruben Rumbaut, U.S. Census Bureau, UC Irvine
April 13, 2011 | 1:03 PM | By

‘The right to choose how we dress:’ American Muslim women speak out on French burqa ban

Photo by Siobhán Silke/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Kenza Drider, one of the most vocal opponents of France's burqa ban, April 2011

On Monday, France implemented a controversial ban on the face-covering veils worn by some Muslim women, which are referred to there as burqa or niqab. Women who continue to wear the veils are subject to steep fines if cited. The French government defends the ban as promoting sexual equality, while critics have called it a blatant appeal to anti-Muslim voters. Meanwhile, there has been mixed reaction from Muslim women as the ban is debated around the world.

KPCC intern Yasmin Nouh, a recent graduate of UC Irvine who herself is Muslim and wears hijab, the traditional head scarf, interviewed three prominent Muslim women in California on reaction to the ban. She spoke with Hadeer Soliman, vice president of the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine; Edina Lekovic, director of policy and programming for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles; and Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Here’s what they had to say about the burqa ban, how it affects Muslim women here, and broader concerns they see surrounding it.

Q: What has the reaction been amongst Muslim women that you interact with regarding the new law?

Hadeer: The reaction amongst Muslim women varies, but I think a common sentiment is that this law denies women in France the right to choose what to wear. The new law will not create a “moderate” Islam, as some French officials claim it will; rather, it alienates and and infringes on the rights of a significant portion of the French population.

Edina: The vast majority of Muslim women I know are wholly against burqas or niqabs because they have no religious foundation in the Quran. They’re based on a hyper-strict interpretation of the Quran, not on what it says in the text at all. That said, they uniformly oppose the French government’s decision to ban them because it sends a completely counterproductive message to French Muslims and French society.

Banning burqas – just like banning books – will only make them more popular as a symbol of resistance. If the goal is to encourage integration of Muslim immigrants into French society, creating opportunities for participation and empowerment is the answer, not excluding and fining people based on how they dress.

Zahra: Many of the Muslim women I have spoken to about the new law are concerned. The general sentiment is that women should have the right to choose what to wear, be it as little or as much as they please. This law, under the guise of protecting and liberating them, actually harms women.

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FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Politics/Justice, Burqa ban, Council on American-Islamic Relations, French burqa ban, Islam, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Muslims, UC Irvine
April 6, 2011 | 5:04 PM | By

Introducing the cultural mashup dictionary: Our first term, 1.5 generation

Photo by TexasT/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Just like Southern California’s culture is shaped by immigrants and their descendants, so is its language. There is an evolving lexicon of words, terms and phrases coined here and elsewhere in the U.S. where immigrants have influenced the English language, and it has influenced them.

And it’s worth compiling into its own dictionary of sorts. Today I’m introducing the first entry, a term I use often: 1.5 generation.

Here’s how Wikipedia defines it:

The term 1.5 generation or 1.5G refers to people who immigrate to a new country before or during their early teens. They earn the label the “1.5 generation” because they bring with them characteristics from their home country but continue their assimilation and socialization in the new country. Their identity is thus a combination of new and old culture and tradition.

There’s a bit more to it than that. I use it rather loosely to describe people who, like me, arrived in the United States as children. But the term, and how it’s used, is rife with complexity.

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FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Health/Education, 1.5 generation, Cultural mashup dictionary, Language, UC Irvine, UCLA