Baltimore County board member apologizes for social media post deemed ‘anti-Muslim’

A Baltimore County school board member apologized Tuesday for a social media post that some critics accused of “promoting anti-Muslim stereotypes.”

Board member Maggie Litz Domanowski apologized at Tuesday’s school board meeting after posting a meme on Facebook over the weekend with a Charlie Brown character holding a sign saying, “If you fear MAGA will take away women’s rights, then you should learn about Sharia law,” a reference to the legal system for Islam.

“Not wrong,” she observed above the meme.

Domanowski’s post drew criticism online and during Tuesday’s board meeting, with multiple people criticizing it. Later in the meeting, Domanowski thanked the speakers for telling her how they felt.

“Hearing it from your voices and seeing your faces, I understand it now,” she said. “I’m truly sorry.”

Sharia law guides the personal religious practices of Muslims, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank focused on policy and international affairs.

“Certain sharia guidance applies specifically to women, and some governments use Islamic law to significantly restrict women’s rights, dictating how they dress and barring them from or segregating them in certain spaces,” the council says.

Maryland’s Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, demanded an apology from Domanowski in an email Monday. The group said the post “promotes anti-Muslim stereotypes and contributes to an atmosphere of hostility toward Muslim students and families.” If she didn’t apologize, CAIR had said, Domanowski should resign.

Domanowski, a conservative who has the phrase “Make Education Great Again” displayed in her Facebook group, said in a Monday post that she deleted the meme. She said her post could’ve been interpreted as her suggesting Sharia law represents all Muslims, which she said is inaccurate. She noted that the guide doesn’t represent and isn’t practiced uniformly by all Muslims.

“At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that restrictive interpretations of religious law can have very real consequences for women and girls in certain countries,” she wrote.

Zainab Chaudry, the Maryland director for CAIR, attended Tuesday’s meeting and told Domanowski that her post wasn’t good enough. Domanowski didn’t apologize or accept responsibility for the harm she caused, Chaudry said.

“The rights and education of women and girls always must be protected, but criticizing particular governments or cultural practices is fundamentally different from circulating a political meme, portraying Sharia itself as a threat to our country,” she said.

Chaudry noted that Sharia protects Muslims’ rights to practice their faith and that they aren’t seeking to force their faith on others, “contrary to popular belief.” She invited Domanowski to visit a local mosque to meet her Muslim neighbors and understand “how this rhetoric harms them.”

Del. Sean A. Stinnett, chair of the state’s Legislative Muslim Caucus, also urged Domanowski to apologize for her initial post.

“Words matter, particularly when they come from individuals who hold positions of influence and public trust,” he said at the meeting. “Remarks that stereotype, demean or cast suspicion upon Muslims because of their faith contribute to division and intolerance. They also make Muslim Americans unsafe.”

Ruben Amaya, a Democrat running for the County Council, said children are watching and they should see school board members who treat each other with respect.

Shazia Shah, a member of the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee, was more pointed in addressing Domanowski: “How dare you?”

“The last thing I should be worried about as a mother is if the people who are in charge of their education [are] prejudiced or bigoted against their religious beliefs,” she said.

At the end of the meeting, Domanowski said she wants to accept Chaudry’s offer to visit a mosque. She said she’s “looking forward to understanding the Muslim community more and Sharia law.”

Sharon Saroff, a Baltimore County special education advocate, saw Domanowski’s original post and disapproved. She called it “bigoted and made me feel extremely uncomfortable as a Jewish person who experienced antisemitism.”

It was big of the board member to apologize, Saroff added, and said it spoke volumes that Domanowski was willing to visit a mosque.

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