A teacher of Palestinian and Arab descent says she was discriminated against and retaliated against when El Cajon Valley High School administrators refused to play a Palestinian cultural song they considered political.
In a lawsuit filed last week, Bassemah Darwish says that last year, she submitted the song “Ana Dami Falasteeni” — “My Blood Is Palestinian” — for inclusion in a playlist of songs with cultural significance, to be played as some of the one-minute music during school passing periods.
She says her principal told her to “submit a different song,” citing “current global circumstances” and a need not “to politicize the one-minute music program.”
Other teachers were allowed to play songs with violent or sexual themes, she alleges.
According to the lawsuit, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee then reached out to Grossmont Union High School District on Darwish’s behalf to say that the song was one of cultural pride, not a political statement, but the district sided with the school’s decision otherwise.
The lawsuit — which names as defendants both the district and school principal Robert Stirling — alleges that the refusal to play the song created a hostile and exclusionary environment.
“Defendants’ conduct stigmatized Plaintiff’s cultural expression, chilled her ability to model inclusion and cultural identity for students and caused humiliation, anxiety and emotional distress,” it says.
El Cajon Valley High has a large Middle Eastern student population; hundreds of its English language learners speak languages of the region, including Arabic, Chaldean and Farsi, state data show.
“San Diego schools don’t get to silence a Palestinian teacher’s pride while turning up the volume on everything else,” said Hani Habbas, her attorney.
In addition to damages, Habbas said his client wants fair treatment for school-sponsored music, training for staff and assurances of equal treatment for employees, regardless of national origin.
“Rather than feeling welcomed and tolerated within the school community, Plaintiff has experienced censorship, public shaming and isolation,” the lawsuit alleges.
District spokesperson Collin McGlashen said Grossmont Union denies the allegations and stands by its decision on the song, calling it “potentially divisive.”
He said that although the district respects students’ and staff’s deeply held beliefs, it also is responsible for maintaining safety on campuses and has the discretion “to restrict the playing of music that contains language, messages or other content that may be offensive, polarizing, or could lead to disturbances.”
“During the events at issue in this litigation, the district exercised that discretion based on the strong political, cultural and religious undercurrents associated with the song and the broader political climate at the time the request was made,” he wrote.
Grossmont Union High School District has previously faced allegations of discrimination, including in a lawsuit by a district-level administrator.
Last year, its former top special-education administrator accused the district of forcing her out because she’s a lesbian, after she was demoted to a teaching role.