Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab, has said she was recently detained at US Customs for two hours without explanation.
Ibtihaj said she did not know if she was held 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, it doesn’t change how you look and how people perceive you,” she told the web site Popsugar during a speaking engagement at the MAKERS Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
Ibtihaj won bronze in team sabre at the Rio Olympics last year. She became the first female Muslim-American athlete to earn a medal at the Olympics.
“My human response is to cry because I was so sad and upset and disheartened -- and just disappointed,” Ibtihaj said.
“At the same time, I’m one of those people who feels like I have to be strong for those people who may not be able to find that strength. I feel like I have to speak up for those people whose voices go unheard,” she said.
“It was a really hard two hours, but at the same time, I made it home. I try to remember to be positive and to try to leave all these situations, 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 athlete said.
{{/usCountry}}“It was a really hard two hours, but at the same time, I made it home. I try to remember to be positive and to try to leave all these situations, 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 athlete said.
{{/usCountry}}Ibtihaj’s remarks come amid stark political divide in the country over President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and visa holders entering the country from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Several hundred people have protested against President Trump’s immigration order.