Fox & Friends Outraged That World History Students Are Learning About Islam

Fox & Friends: Teach Children Islamophobia

Fox News' latent Islamophobia manifested itself during two segments criticizing a Wisconsin high school for asking history students to write about Muslim Americans based on materials covered in class.

On April 2, according to emails initially obtained by right-wing talk radio host Vicki McKenna, world history students at Union Grove High School were asked to write a short essay about daily life for Muslims living in the United States. Students were asked to write five paragraphs in which they “pretend” to be Muslim and briefly outline their daily routine along with any potential “struggles” they might face.

Fox News expressed its concern about the assignment during two segments on the April 15 edition of Fox & Friends, in which co-hosts Steve Doocy, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Brian Kilmeade wondered if it was appropriate for students to learn about Islam -- the world's second-largest religion -- in a world history class. At first, Doocy wondered if students wrote about “what Sharia law is,” and how they were graded if they did, while Hasselbeck worried that students might not being learning enough about Christianity:

Doocy reiterated his alleged concerns about Sharia law during a later segment, in which he hyped common Islamophobic tropes about the religion being violent and intolerant:

DOOCY: I wonder if they actually, if they did study the religion in this world history class, if they wrote down things like, “If I criticize any part of the Quran, they will kill me,” or, “If Muslims marry non-Muslims, they will be put to death,” or, “If I'm caught stealing, they'll amputate my right hand.” I wonder if they put that kind of stuff in, because that's all part of Sharia law.

Fox has a long history of stoking Islamophobia and worrying about the supposed looming threat of Sharia law, recently attacking a school for allowing a student to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic.