During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was frequently and unapologetically Islamophobic. He often failed to draw any real distinction between radical Islamic extremism and ordinary Muslims, declared that “Islam hates us”, insinuated that Muslim women were not allowed to speak by their husbands, and called for a “total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”.
It was on the basis of this divisive rhetoric that Trump emerged victorious from the presidential race on Tuesday night. And now, American Muslim women are taking to social media to express their fears about life in Trump’s America.
On Twitter, many women have been describing how they no longer feel safe wearing the hijab in public.
Two Muslim American women have reported two separate incidents to police after being attacked in the aftermath of Trump’s victory, the Washington Post reports. On Wednesday, a Muslim student at San Diego State University was robbed and may have had her car stolen by two men who made comments about Trump and Muslims.
On the same day in Louisiana, another female university student was beaten, robbed and had her hijab ripped off by two men – one of whom was wearing a white ‘Trump’ hat.
Other Twitter users have been posting messages of support and solidarity to Muslim women and other minorities in the wake of Trump’s win.
The right to wear the hijab – or any other religious symbol – is enshrined in the Second Amendment, which states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
However, until Trump condemns the rise in Islamophobic hate crime and non-Muslims start speaking out whenever they see or hear Muslims being abused, many hijabi women might find that to be of little comfort.
Main image: Getty
undefined
By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy
Thank you!
You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.