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It there no room for political diversity anymore? This girl is CHinese and immigrated here to be able to speak her mind unlike in China. Why should she be required to try on a hijab? This isn't part of her culture. That is like making a Muslim person try on a star of david, Miss America is a private business but it seems like people should be able to participate without bowing to their political ideology.
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Miss Garden State speaks out about this.
By stripping Miss Michigan, Kathy Zhu, of her title the Miss World organization gave the impression that some women who hold unpopular beliefs should just keep their mouths shut and look pretty. So much for women’s empowerment.
Watch my full interview here:
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Happy Ending to this story
Woman who says she lost Miss Michigan crown for conservative views joins Trump campaign advisory board
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/27/us/kathy-zhu-ex-miss-michigan-joins-trump-team-trnd/index.html
Kathy Zhu, 20, a University of Michigan student who has more than 70,000 followers across Instagram and Twitter where she goes by the handle “PoliticalKathy”, is a prominent online conservative and is the vice chair of her campus Republican student group.
Zhu, who was born in China and immigrated to the US when she was five, first gained internet fame during the 2016 election campaign. In 2018 she sparked controversy after posting about a “Try a Hijab” event at the University of Central Florida, and later that year announced she was transferring to Michigan.
Kathy Zhu@PoliticalKathy
Replying to @PoliticalKathy
My message while as Miss Michigan is to advocate for speaking your truth
Especially in today’s political climate, we r quick to attack each other based on perceptions & stereotypes
It’s time we take a step back & realize that our diversity of thought is what makes America strong
443
1:55 PM - Jul 17, 2019
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Earlier this week she was named as a 2019 national finalist by Miss Indiana and Michigan World America, the first phase of the competition before the Miss and Teen World America Preliminary and Finals in Las Vegas in October.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Zhu said she had been stripped of her 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”.
One of the earlier tweets in question said, “Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community first before blaming others.”
Kathy Zhu@PoliticalKathy
· 13h
Miss World America's State/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamaphobic, and insensitive.
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.
Kathy Zhu@PoliticalKathy
These are the text message exchanges between the state director and me.
5,549
7:38 PM - Jul 18, 2019
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Zhu shared a screenshot of an email from Miss World America Michigan state director Laurie DeJack, saying she had “accused me of being racist, Islamophobic, and insensitive”.
Ms DeJack wrote in the email, “It has been brought to the attention of Miss World America that your social media accounts contain offensive, insensitive and inappropriate content, and in violation of MWA’s Rules and Conditions, specifically the contestant requirement of ‘being of good character and whose background is not likely to bring into disrepute Miss World America or any person associated with the organisation’.”
She added, “Therefore, and effective immediately, MWA does not recognise you as a participant of any sort or in any capacity as it relates to any and all events of MWA. Furthermore, let this communication serve as official notice to remove any mention of yourself as a participant in MWA from all social media platforms (including photographs of you wearing the MWA Michigan sash and/or crown, and any text claiming to be a participant of MWA events).”
The 20-year-old was named as a finalist earlier this week.Source:Twitter
Zhu has more than 70,000 followers on Instagram and Twitter. Picture: InstagramSource:Instagram
She rose to internet fame during the 2016 election. Picture: InstagramSource:Instagram
The Chinese-American aggressively campaigned for Donald Trump. Picture: InstagramSource:Instagram
She has been accused of ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘racism’. Picture: InstagramSource:Instagram
‘Conservatives are being treated like second-class citizens.’ Picture: InstagramSource:Instagram
In her email reply, Zhu wrote, “Statistics and facts are not always pleasant. It’s disgusting how you would rather lie to the public’s face than be supportive of someone that is trying to make a difference by talking about subjects that no one dares to say.”
Referring to the hijab incident, she added that “a Muslim woman tried to forcibly put a hijab on my head without my permission”.
“What’s ‘insensitive’ is that women in the Middle East are getting stoned to death for refusing to obey their husband’s orders to wear hijabs,” she wrote.
“I tweeted about it on my social media … Almost everyone was supportive of me refusing to be put in that situation. Are the people in MWA implying that they advocate for the punishment of women who refuse to wear a hijab?”
Zhu also posted screenshots of text messages from Ms DeJack accusing her of “misleading” the organisation by using her “Chinese first name” when she initially applied.
“I have a lot of stuff being thrown at me right now from Nationals office. We are going to need to have a conversation,” Ms DeJack wrote.
Attaching a link to Zhu’s 2016 tweet she wrote, “Is this you?” Zhu wrote back, “How is that racist? It’s statistics. Didn’t know statistics were racist.”
Conservatives online slammed the move.
“This is unbelievable,” BlazeTV host Lauren Chen wrote. “@PoliticalKathy has been stripped of her pageant title for not wanting to wear a hijab and for highlighting crime rates in some black communities. The fact that these pageant people find her views offensive speaks more to their own bigotry than anything else.”
Podcaster John Hawkins said, “A conservative woman isn’t even allowed to enter a beauty pageant anymore without holding the right politically correct opinions. Whatever happened the land of the free and the home of the brave?”
Music video director Robby Starbuck added, “Apparently you can’t even participate in a @MissWorldLtd pageant if you’re *gasp* openly Republican. What a sorry bunch of bigots. @PoliticalKathy you’re still Miss Michigan to anyone with a functioning frontal lobe in their brain.”
Miss World America has been contacted for comment.
[email protected]
edit
Miss Garden State speaks out about this.
By stripping Miss Michigan, Kathy Zhu, of her title the Miss World organization gave the impression that some women who hold unpopular beliefs should just keep their mouths shut and look pretty. So much for women’s empowerment.
Watch my full interview here:
edit
Happy Ending to this story
Woman who says she lost Miss Michigan crown for conservative views joins Trump campaign advisory board
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/27/us/kathy-zhu-ex-miss-michigan-joins-trump-team-trnd/index.html
(CNN)The woman who says she was stripped of her Miss Michigan 2019 crown for her conservative views has a new title: Women for Trump Coalition Advisory Board member.
Kathy Zhu, a University of Michigan student, said last week that Miss World America dethroned her because they found her tweets about hijabs and black on black gun violence insensitive and offensive.
However, Trump's re-election campaign apparently found the 20-year-old's views to align with "American values."
"@PoliticalKathy is a patriot who has continued to stand for American values despite being stripped of her crown," the campaign's Twitter account wrote on Thursday.
Zhu, who is vice president of her school's College Republicans club, said she is "so excited" to join the board.
Kathy Zhu@PoliticalKathy
I am so excited to now be part of the #WomenforTrump Coalition Advisory Board!
Let’s get Trump re-elected for 2020
https://twitter.com/teamtrump/status/1154527228589293569 …
Team Trump
✔@TeamTrump
Team Trump welcomes Kathy Zhu to the Official #WomenforTrump Coalition Advisory Board! @PoliticalKathy is a patriot who has continued to stand for American values despite being stripped of her crown.
Thank you for your support of President @realdonaldtrump!
16.1K
5:05 PM - Jul 25, 2019
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Controversial tweets
Zhu told CNN on Monday that she stands by the views on her social media, though it appears she has deleted at least one of the posts in question.
One of the tweets she said Miss World America found inappropriate included her comments on black on black gun violence.
"Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community first before blaming others," she wrote.
Her tweet was in response to another user who had tweeted Vice President Mike Pence to say, "STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE !!!" regarding police violence against African-Americans.
Kathy Zhu@PoliticalKathy
Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community first before blaming others https://twitter.com/enndelbu/status/917080495250223104 …
Enndelbu@Enndelbu
Replying to @VP
STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE !!!
243
10:38 AM - Oct 8, 2017
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She also came under fire for a February 2018 tweet about a hijab booth at University of Central Florida, which she attended before transferring to the University of Michigan. Though it appears Zhu has deleted the tweet, the Orlando Sentinel published a screengrab of it.
"There's 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?" the tweet reads.
Ex-Miss Michigan says pageant dethroned her for conservative views
Speaking to CNN, Zhu called the hijab "a sacred garment" and likened a non-Muslim wearing a hijab to a non-Catholic carrying a rosary.
"There are so many women in Muslim countries right now who are being stoned to death because they don't want to wear a hijab ... and I think we should be focusing on that," she said. "There's so many bad things happening in Muslim countries ... and their women are being crucified for not wearing a hijab, and I think that's really, really awful."
In an email Zhu posted, a Miss World Michigan official said that the organization was alerted to social media posts containing "offensive, insensitive and inappropriate content" in violation of pageant rules that require contestants to be of good character and not bring the organization into disrepute.
"MWA does not recognize you as a participant of any sort or in any capacity," the email says, ordering Zhu to remove all references to participating in the pageant from her social media accounts.
CNN was not able to independently confirm the authenticity of the emails and texts posted by Zhu.
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