Segregation in American Classrooms

While attitude in Europe (well, Britain and Italy and even France) towards Islam change and harden, it almost seems that America going in the opposite direction. An odd reversal.

While the ACLU campaigns against bag searches on the New York subway and profiling is banned on the subway and at airports (good call- surely better to avoid offence and search Grandma's knitting bag instead of that shifty looking, perfume-wearing guy with the back-pack), we also hear that Virginia Tech is to enable segregated classes for Saudi students. Sorry, "gender-specific" classes. A spokesman said that they did not want to "impress our culture on them" and so they've chosen to teach the class as it would have been taught in Saudi. AS Dhimmi Watch points out, no such respect for American culture is provided for in Saudi.

Where's the feminist outrage when you need it? When it could actually mean something substantial and show these Saudi women that in America men and women are equal. Could perhaps inspire them to think about the situation of women in their own country. Instead, there's silence and the Saudi women see that even in America, the land of the free, they can be treated differently just because of their sex. Virginia Tech should be ashamed. Damn the money they're getting from this to hell- shouldn't they be standing up for freedom and equality? Or do left-wing dominated institutions only do that when they perceive some slight on their "own kind"?

As is noted in the comments on Dhimmi Watch and at the Roanoke message boards, VT is federally funded and thus liable to follow federal law- segregation like this is surely prohibited?

I found this post by "Susan Felker" at Roanoke particularly illuminating- "The Saudis in this group have chosen to be separated, according to statements they have made. I think we should respect others' cultures, and their choices."

I'm sure that the female Saudi students are going to kick up a fuss and demand that they have integrated classrooms. Of course women in Saudia Arabia are permitted to demand equality like that! In the world according to Felker women have the right to be treated like second-class citizens if that's what they want, damnit!