When religious bias rears to uncover a head
Myell Thompson is now free to wear her hijab to the Oregon State Penitentiary without discrimination. Previously, guards at OSP harassed Thompson and called it a scarf, suggesting she might be a security risk.
(Photo: MOLLY J. SMITH / Statesman Journal)
Carol McAlice Currie, Statesman Journal
1:02 a.m. PDT June 5, 2016
Myell Thompson isn't afraid of confrontation. A small but emotionally strong woman, all she wanted when her husband, McKeever, was transferred to the Oregon State Penitentiary last year was to keep her head down and visit him with their children.
Unfortunately for Myell, who is a Muslim woman who converted to the Islamic faith, her head is most often covered in a hijab.
And that's where her problems with the OSP and the state Department of Corrections began.
Myell understands her head covering is often misunderstood, and in some cases feared. But it means modesty for Muslim women, she said, and it is not subjugation to her, but rather liberation that she can be faithful to her religion and husband.
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/in-your-corner/2016/06/05/when-religious-bias-rears-uncover-head/85317676/
