On Tuesday, August 23, beachgoers in Nice, France beheld the sight of four, fully clothed male police officers surrounding a woman wearing a headdress with a matching blue, long sleeve shirt. The officers forced the woman to take off the shirt, before writing up a ticket for her.
The law that was enforced was a recently imposed a ban on burkinis, a full length one piece swimming suit that are usually worn by Muslims. However, in this particular case, the woman was not even wearing a burkini. The law states that anything that "overtly manifests adherence to a religion at a time when France and places of worship are the target of terrorist attacks" was a result of a recent attack reportedly by ISIS in the same city on Bastille Day, which killed 86 people.
This event took social media by storm, garnering mainly outrage.
I wholly agree with the outrage that has been sparked in light of this event. Here is another picture of what a burkini looks like:
When I saw the woman in the picture, it looked like she was wearing a wet suit over her shirt.
The way that the French are handling this particular situation is one that could be considered in times of desperation, but one that will not garner the most effective solution. France was reportedly attacked by ISIS on Bastille Day, and one of their responses at the moment is to exclude any excessive representation of religion because of the recent law that was passed. In light of this event, it seems like the French share the same prejudices that ISIS has towards the Muslims in particular.
Treating people of certain beliefs in such a way can blind out who the real threat is. The real threat to the society are those affiliated with ISIS, not the general public who happen to believe in the religion that is under attack by ISIS. Creating a law that disallows people to have the freedom of anything will certainly cause outrage.
There are several accounts of similar prejudices, but what is particularly outraging is the involvement of legitimate government rules to allow this to happen. This opinion may come from the fact that I live in a country that allows more freedom of religion than in any other country. But nonetheless, with the woman in Nice, France, she was enjoying a day in the sun - harmless. What threat could she have possibly had exhibited?
It is because of these ideas that this prejudice continues to progress. Anyone should be able to express themselves, whenever and however they want to. If this kind of freedom was implemented in France, maybe the beachgoers in Nice wouldn't have had to deal with their view being blocked by police officers.
