Los Angeles: Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab, said Wednesday that she was recently detained by US Customs at an airport for two hours without explanation. Incidentally, she had won a team bronze at the 2016 Rio Games.
Ibtihaj stated that she did not know if she was stopped as a result of the Trump administration’s travel ban but is sure the move was a result of her ethnicity.
“I don’t know why. I can’t tell you why it happened to me, but I know that I’m Muslim. I have an Arabic name. And even though I represent Team USA and I have that Olympic hardware (bronze), it doesn’t change how you look and how people perceive you,” she said during a conference.
“My human response was to cry because I was so sad and upset and disheartened – and just disappointed. It was a really hard two hours, but at the same time, I made it home. I try to be positive and to leave all these situations behind, even if they may be very difficult, with love.
“I think that we will come out on top as women, as people of colour, as Muslims, as transgender people, as people who are part of the ‘disabled’ community — I think that we’ll come out on top,” the fencer added.
PTI