It’s anything but politics as usual in the race for school board in Fremont.

One candidate is speaking out about what she says amounts to hate speech directed at her campaign.

“And this one says, ‘Force kids to believe your political agenda? Unbelievable,'” school board candidate Fahria Khan said.

Khan says there are people who do not want on her on the school board in Fremont because she is a Muslim.

“It’s absolutely anti-Muslim,” Khan said. “They are very specific about targeting me because of my religion and because of my hijab or headscarf.”

The only Muslim among seven candidates running for two seats on the board of trustees, Khan has seen messages like this posted on her Facebook page:

“I am absolutely sure she will kick God out, have students face east, and will convert them to Muslim. She is a disaster to the school system.”

“I was very alarmed at first because my No. 1 priority is my family’s safety, but at the same time, sometimes you have to stand up to injustice,” Khan said.

None of the posts constitute a direct threat so police are not involved.

Khan has deleted the posts but is hurt that this could be happening in one of the most diverse cities in the Bay Area.

“I mean, 69 percent of the students in this school district are of Asian or South Asian descent, and we have a minority-majority population in Fremont,” Khan said.

The only Muslim among seven candidates vying for two seats on the board of trustees, Khan is hoping voters will consider her qualifications for the job rather than her religion.

“This gives me some perspective into what some of the students are going through in our schools,” Khan said. “There is a lot of cyberbullying going on, and now, I know exactly what that feels like, so we have to stand strong with our students and say that this culture has got to stop.”

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