Monday, September 5, 2011
Hijabs vs. Safety
Rye Playland is typically an amusement park full of fun and excitement, but when a group of Muslim visitors were not allowed on some rides due to their religious head garb (hijabs), the day turned violent and angry with 15 arrests and 2 felony assault charges.
A group of Muslim visitors came to the park as a celebration marking the end of Eid al-Fitr. However, their celebration was cut short when some employees would not allow some women to ride some of the attractions unless they agreed to take off their head dress. When the women became upset at this rule, the men that accompanied them quickly started a brawl with the employees, claiming religious discrimination.
However, if the visitors had looked at the amusement parks rules, they would have seen that no one, regardless of religious affiliation, could wear any sort of hat or headpiece while on the rides. This rule is in place for specific safety reasons. An important aspect of this argument is that the women were never asked to take off their hijabs while walking through the park, and it was only when their head dresses could potentially be a risk to other visitors that they were asked not to wear them. Also, it should be known that there was a sign not only at the entrance of the park itself, but also online and next to every ride. The rule as posted online states, "Hats must be secured, and jackets/sweaters must be worn properly and not around the waist while on a ride. Some rides do not allow backpacks, purses or head gear of any kind."
I believe that the minute that something becomes potentially dangerous to others, it is the amusement park’s responsibility to take away as many of these potential risks as possible. Asking these women to take off their head dresses before getting on some rides has absolutely nothing to do with religious discrimination, as similar requests would have been made of anyone wearing such a head piece, no matter their religious affiliation.
The Muslim group claimed that they were not told about this rule, however, the park insists that it was made explicitly clear to the groups organizer. Westchester County Parks Deputy Commissioner Peter Tartaglia claims that the park even set up a refund booth for anyone who might object to the policy on head gear. Instead of lashing out at the park employees simply trying to do their jobs, they should have tried talking to a supervisor in a more acceptable way. Violence is certainly not the answer.
I believe that the group of Muslim visitors should have taken a step back, so that they could understand the safety concerns of their head dress, instead of taking such a personal approach. Rye Playland was not discriminating against any religion, but rather they were trying to keep themselves from having any unnecessary liabilities. It is also my belief that the group of visitors were given ample opportunity to assess whether they wanted to stay at the park. If they feel like they were not given enough information beforehand, then perhaps they should look internally at their groups organizer, instead of lashing out against the amusement park itself.
In this situation, there was a clear disconnect between the park and this group of visitors. Perhaps the park employees should have made sure that the head gear rule was relayed to the group as they entered the park, instead of relying on the groups organizer. However, it is my belief that there was absolutely no reason for this group to act out in such a way. They should have assessed the situation and realized that no one was trying to inhibit their religious freedom, but rather, they were protecting the safety of all visitors, including themselves.
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