Almawri (center) sits next to her mother (left) and ACRL Chairman Nabih Ayad (right).

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Bullying and discrimination targeting an Arab American student at Annapolis High School has only intensified since she and her mother spoke with The Arab American News last month.

Last week, the Arab-American Civil Rights League (ACRL) filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights on behalf of 14-year-old Amaya Almawri, a freshman at the high school who continues to be targeted by her classmates.

Almawri and her mother, Nagham Bazzi, originally spoke with The Arab American News after Almawri received a five day suspension for defending herself during a powderpuff game on November 7, when a male student allegedly sexually assaulted her by grabbing her chest. He only received a two day suspension for the incident. 

Annapolis, in the Southend of Dearborn Heights, only has an estimated handful of Arab American students. When Bazzi, a single mother, moved into the neighborhood earlier this year with her daughter, she decided to enroll her into public schools for the first time. 

In the weeks leading up to the powderpuff game, Almawri had been targeted by fellow students because of her ethnicity and religion. A few weeks into the school year, students learned she was an Arab American and she became the target of racially insensitive jokes. 

Several female students grew increasingly hostile towards Almawri following the revelation of her ethnicity, insulting her with statements that included “is there a bomb in your backpack?” and “don’t blow up the classroom.” A fearful Almawri reported the bullying to the assistant principal, Cheryl Howard, who assured her that students would be penalized if the bullying continued.

However, the bullying didn’t stop there. Almawri began eating lunch with a teacher in order to avoid confrontations in the cafeteria. A student had pushed a lunchroom table into her and called her a “snitch” for reporting the bullying to faculty. 

Almawri’s grades suffered as a result of the bullying. Her worried mother contacted numerous faculty members, including the school counselor, but was told there wasn’t much they could do. The Dearborn Heights District No. 7 school board had recommended that she move Almawri to a Dearborn Public School.

Upon learning about Almawri’s alleged bullying, The Arab American News made phone calls to the Annapolis High School administration, but the calls were not returned. 

At a press conference at the ACRL office on Thursday, December 18, Chairman Nabih Ayad and Field Director Samia Hamid-Sarein, alongside Almawri and her mother, said that the administration’s lack of response on the issue is a concern in itself. 

“Arab Americans in the city of Dearborn Heights have had to take a back seat to civil rights, to principle, to ethics and to what’s morally right,” Ayad said. “This individual has been continuously bullied …it’s clear and evident. The authorities, the vice principal, a counselor and even a superintendent was made aware of it. Yet what did they do? Nothing.”

The bullying had escalated into vandalism on Thanksgiving morning when Almawri and her mother were awakened to a brick that was thrown into through a window of their home. A piece of paper was wrapped around the brick with the words “watch out” written on it. Authorities were immediately contacted, but a police report never led to an investigation. 

Ayad linked the police department’s lack of action to a lawsuit the civil rights group had filed last week against the city of Dearborn Heights and its police department for a lack of Arab American representation. 

According to Ayad, both the city and the police department have had a long history of mistreating Arab American residents. He used an example of a 2012 incident involving four Arab American high school students who were criminally charged for getting into a brawl during a football game. Yet, when the victim is an Arab American, authorities brush it off. 

“The city of Dearborn Heights needs to wake up to its serious problems. We don’t need to have a situation like in Ferguson (Missouri), where they finally awakened to the concerns of their constituents.” 

Meanwhile, despite fears, Almawri is still attending Annapolis. Formerly an active student at her previous school, Almawri said she fears to participate in extra-curricular activities as a result of the continued bullying. She has just a couple of classmates who she considers friends. 

“Every time I get near the school I want to cry,” Almawri said. “I have anxiety now. I start to shake and I can’t concentrate in class. When I walk in the hallways people are laughing at me and pointing at me.”

Bazzi said she was disheartened by her daughter’s mistreatment from fellow students. Both were born and raised in metro Detroit and Bazzi was a student at Dearborn High, where she said she never encountered any similar problems.

 “It hurts me and makes me want to cry. My daughter shouldn’t have to go through anxiety or go through anything like that at all, especially being born and raised here,”  said Bazzi.