Alaa Basatneh is Muslim and has been wearing a headscarf for the past 12 years. But these days when she goes outside, she switches to a hat.
“It’s no longer safe to walk on the streets with a headscarf,” she told CNN’s Carol Costello.
Basatneh, Miami-based writer who covers justice for the news and culture site Fusion, said much of this fear stems from Donald Trump. The President-elect said during his campaign that he wants to ban Muslims from traveling to the United States and suggested that profiling would be an effective way to prevent terrorism.
“[Trump] really opened a large wound within the Muslim community,” she said. “And to me, personally, I think he needs to apologize for what he’s been saying. And … reassure the Muslim community that we will be safe.”
In a TV interview that aired Sunday, Trump called on his supporters to stop harassing minorities.
To illustrate her point, Basatneh told Costello that a few days ago an older white man sitting near her in a Miami hospital waiting room took out a pocket knife and placed it on the empty seat between them.
“I felt threatened,” she said. “I was shocked. And I was waiting to be stabbed just for the fact that I was wearing my headscarf.”
“It’s no longer safe to walk on the streets with a headscarf now,” @AlaaBasatneh tells @CarolCNN. https://t.co/TvB3NTu7hx
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) November 16, 2016
