SAN DIEGO COUNTY — Over the past couple of years, local groups have been working to combat misinformation about Muslims by speaking with educators throughout San Diego County and collaborating with school districts to ensure that all students feel seen and supported.
One group is Taalim, which means “education” in Arabic and was formed in 2024 by parents in the San Marcos Unified, San Diego Unified, Poway Unified, and San Dieguito Union High school districts. The group focuses on making sure school district officials and teachers have the cultural awareness and education needed to properly support Muslim students and those of various Arab identities.
Involved in Taalim is another group based in the Poway Unified School District called SPARK, which stands for Supportive Parents Advocating for Respect and Kindness. SPARK gives presentations to staff at district schools about the basics of Islam, how to support Muslim students, and how Islamophobia can manifest.
The prevalence of hate incidents against Muslims and Arab people highlights the need for this education, leaders say. People need to look no further than the deadly May 18 shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, which left three people dead and many who were present that day — including teachers and young students — traumatized.
“It’s definitely impacting our students across the board, whether they are Arab or Muslim, or anything that can be misconstrued as being Arab or Muslim. They are scared, and they’re pessimistic about their future,” said Nadia Swanson, a San Dieguito Union parent and a founding member of Taalim who lives in Carlsbad.
Taalim has connected school districts with local organizations to provide additional professional development and guidance to ensure that Arab and Muslim students receive the same level of support as other groups in local schools.
This includes advising the district about what community members need in the aftermath of hate incidents that happen in local schools, and how to support Palestinian students amid the ongoing displacement and killing of people in Gaza following the 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel.
“We are having conferences and events to include more people. We’re constantly trying to recruit people to help,” Swanson said.
SPARK focuses on teaching about the basic background of Islam to help teachers get to know their Muslim students better and be better prepared to support them if they face discrimination in a school setting.
Members of SPARK have been giving presentations to staff at all Poway Unified middle schools during professional development days. They hope to expand next year to elementary and high school staff.
“We decided we want to work with the educators. We know Islamophobia exists, but we wanted to be in collaboration with the educators to make things better for our students,” said parent and SPARK co-founder Nadya Khan.
Parents involved in SPARK said district staff have been very receptive to the presentations. However, they have been surprised by how little educators know about this topic.
“Knowledge is key. Without knowledge, you can’t create inclusive spaces, without knowing who you’re creating it for,” said parent and SPARK member Saima Nasim.
Swanson echoed this, saying that it’s important for educators to understand that Muslims and Arabs are not a monolith.
“They didn’t understand that not all Arabs are Muslim, or didn’t even know that Arabs can be Jews,” she said, referencing a professional development for educators in San Diego Unified.
In reflecting on the shooting at the Islamic Center, members of SPARK and Taalim hope that more education can dismantle hate and equip people with understanding.
Investigators have confirmed that the two shooters, who took their own lives after firing upon the mosque and a landscaper, were 18 and 17 years old, and left behind writing that expressed extremist views with hatred toward several groups.
“I think these kids were driven by hate,” said parent Razia Naeem of SPARK. “People tend to hate when they don’t understand and they don’t know things. Online, there’s probably a lot of misinformation, and so hopefully we can just open up some understanding.”
In addition to this Islamic Center shooting, leaders said Arab and Muslim students are also feeling the impacts of wider world events, such as the United States’ war in Iran and Israel’s ongoing attacks in Palestine.
Tazheen Nizam, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said that in the San Diego region alone, reports of hate incidents against Muslims increased by 300% in the last quarter of 2023.
“We were carrying a lot of that pain, and then we were subjected to a tragedy of a different magnitude right here in our homes,” Nizam said.
