Reacting to anti-Islam post shared publicly by the principal of White Hall High School, a group of Muslim students from Little Rock, Arkansas delivered flowers and a note with the principal’s name on it, apologizing also for not doing enough to change his misperceptions about Islam, KATV reported.

“Principal Jelks, on behalf of the Muslim community, we want to acknowledge how deeply hurt we were by your post,” Pulaski County High School senior Waleed Masoon reads the first few words in a letter written by a group of students.

“We just want to raise awareness,” he said while presenting the letter with flowers.

The letter is in response to a picture shared on White Hall High School principal Mark Jelks’ Facebook page last month which said kick ‘Islam out of America.’

“We’re here to forgive Mr. Jelks and we want to show who we really are,” Masoon said.

Rising Hate

Though there are no official figures, the US is home to an estimated Muslim minority of six to eight million.

American Muslims see rising Islamophobia as a major obstacle to their daily life.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, said that anti-Muslim discrimination incidents and hate crimes increased in the third quarter of 2018 by 83 and 21 percent respectively, compared with the first quarter.

During 2018, CAIR documented more than 1,000 reports of potential bias incidents. The numbers include situations involving various government agencies.