A law backed by the Ku Klux Klan nearly a century ago to keep Catholics out of public schools is still on the books in Oregon, one of the last states in the nation to prohibit teachers from wearing religious clothing in classrooms.
Both Pennsylvania and Nebraska have similar laws, which try to balance the constitutional conflict between protecting students from the establishment of religion in schools and the rights of teachers to express their beliefs through their dress.
Oregon’s law, originally aimed at priest collars and nun habits, survived a legal challenge in the 1980s by a Sikh convert who wanted to wear her turban in the classroom and was recently upheld by the state’s Legislature.
[blockquote]a Sikh convert who wanted to wear her turban in the classroom[/blockquote]Sikh women don’t wear turbans. Otherwise, an interesting article.
I used to live in Nebraska, and I know that law is not enforced.
I have seen Sikh women converts in San Diego wearing a sort of Nefertiti-looking white headdress, although that was a number of years ago.
Interesting, kwanlu. In India, which is where Sikhs originate, the men wear a turban but not the women. Neither sex cuts their hair. In India, a man with a beard and a turban is a Sikh.