Islamophobia: Acceptable racism?

Not a scarf, towel or any other slur used to generalize something the user doesn't understand, making the user ignorant. Now instead of going into a diatribe about this being what I would consider a Freudian-slip pointing to the possibility of secret Islamophobia by the author, I will go on about what was in the body of the article.

Here are some excerpts:

By JASON GEARY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2007

PALM HARBOR - Iman Khalil was just another girl taking the soccer field Sunday, running alongside teammates and keeping a close eye on the ball. Occasionally, the 15-year-old tucked the back of her white head scarf into her red and white jersey.

A day earlier, teammates, parents and even members of an opposing team had lobbied a referee to let Khalil play after he ruled the Muslim girl's head scarf violated league rules.

She took the field Sunday in the Hernando Heat's 1-0 loss to the South Hillsborough Soccer League Celtics. A different referee allowed Khalil to play wearing her head scarf, and league officials showed up with policies that showed she should have been able to play Saturday.

'Unfortunately, sometimes they referees stick too far to the letter of the rule and allow no leeway,' said Mike Gann, a vice president with the United Soccer Association.

League representatives expressed regret that she had been benched Saturday.

'There was nothing we could do,' said Frank Villaizan, president of the USA board. 'Once the referee steps on the field, he is the governing body of that field. He runs the game, and we respect that.'

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