Attorney General Loretta Lynch urged Muslim parents to contact both the justice department and the education department if they think their children are being “bullied” in school. “We’ve seen this for a number of years, we saw it a lot in the New York area [after 9/11], unfortunately, where there would be a backlash against the Muslim community in general,” she claimed at a Thursday fundraiser dinner for an Islamic advocacy group, Muslim Advocates.
In response to Lynch’s address, conservative host Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show Friday:
Don’t bother with the principal! You know, education’s a local thing. But now all of a sudden, if your child is bullied and you are a Muslim, you are to call the Department of Justice in Washington and ask for the attorney general…
Now, if you happen to be Jewish and your kids are bullied, don’t bother calling. If you happen to be Christian, if you happen to be Hindu, if you happen to be Tutsi or Hutu or whatever, don’t bother calling. If your kids are bullied, that doesn’t matter. Only Muslims are permitted to call…
“Here is the attorney general claiming, promising to prosecute anybody who engages in anti-Muslim speech,” Limbaugh said.
Lynch said both the federal agencies “provide guidance to schools on how to handle situations where students come to them and they feel bullied.”
The attorney general added that their children may not have the “tools” to argue back or talk back when challenged, presumably by American kids.
“So we are very, very active in that front as well,” Lynch said. “And so what I would urge people to do if you are aware of situations where children are involved, please contact the Department of Justice and the Department of Education.”
The education department defines “bullying” very broadly, justifying federal intervention in many schoolyard disputes or political arguments among teenagers.
“Bullying is defined as a form of unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-age children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance and that is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time… Verbal bullying is a form of intentional aggression that involves saying or writing things that are mean or hurtful to others.”
“We can provide guidance, we can have conversations,” Lynch continued at the fundraiser. “Everything need not result in a lawsuit, but some things do have to go to that…area…we have an important, important role to play. So, please, please, think of us there.”
