Kathy Zhu, a student from the University of Michigan, was stripped of her Miss Michigan title over “offensive” social media posts. The student says that she is being discriminated against over her conservative views.
University of Michigan student Kathy Zhu says that Miss World America recently contacted her to inform her that she was stripped of her Miss Michigan beauty pageant title over “offensive, insensitive and inappropriate” social media posts.
Zhu tweeted about the incident on Thursday, stating that Miss World America dismissed her from the beauty pageant due to her conservative views, as well as her refusal to wear a hijab last year.
“Miss World America’s State/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamaphobic, and insensitive,” tweeted Zhu. “They stripped me of my Miss Michigan title due to my refusal to try on a hijab in 2018, my tweet about black on black gun violence, and ‘insensitive’ statistical tweets.”
In 2018, Zhu made waves on campus after approaching a Muslim Student Association table and later declining to wear a hijab for “World Hijab Day,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
The student then tweeted, “There is a ‘try a hijab on’ booth at my college campus. So you’re telling me that it’s now just a fashion accessory and not a religious thing? Or are you just trying to get women used to being oppressed under Islam?”
Zhu later clarified that she was referring to women in the Middle Eastern countries who are being punished for refusing to wear the hijab.
“Nobody is talking about that in the West because all they see is everyone being at peace, but that is the beauty of America,” affirmed Zhu.
The conservative student took to Twitter to elaborate on the accusations made against her. “Someone called me an islamophobic for not wanting to put on a hijab. Someone called me a racist because I recognize that black people kill more blacks than police do,” said Zhu.
Miss World America, however, does not seem to approve of the student’s online activity, according to a purported email from the organization, shared by Zhu on Twitter.
“It has been brought to the attention of Miss Word America (MWA) that your social media posts contain offensive, insensitive, and inappropriate content,” read the purported email from Miss World America to Zhu.
The email went on to state that Zhu was in violation of the pageant’s Rules and Conditions requiring contestants to be “of good character and whose background is not likely to bring into dispute Miss World America or any person associated with the organization.”
“Therefore, and effective immediately, WMA does not recognize you as a participant of any sort or in any capacity as it relates to any events or WMA,” the email continues. “Furthermore, let this communication serve as an official notice to remove any mention of yourself as a participant in MWA from all social media platforms.”
Miss World America did not immediately respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment.
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