Mar 13, 2016
It hasn't been a very smooth week for the Austin-based SXSW festival. Earlier in the week, U.S. Olympic World Team fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad was following security protocols to enter SXSW when she was asked to remove her hijab for photographic identification at the festival.
Muhammad wears the headdress for religious purposes and has become a prominent figure in fencing, ranked 7th in the world and 2nd in the U.S. for her talents. She is set to be the first US Olympian to ever done the religious headdress.
Muhammad was dumbfounded by the demand to remove her hijab, subsequently tweeting out her disbelief.
https://twitter.com/IbtihajMuhammad/status/708722250980012034
https://twitter.com/IbtihajMuhammad/status/708723134677921792
Not only did that actually happen at SXSW, a festival that prides itself on being the cultural centerpiece of Austin, but Muhammad was also given the wrong ID after the whole fiasco.
https://twitter.com/IbtihajMuhammad/status/708726671377956864
SXSW, in a quick move to quiet the controversy surrounding the whole ordeal, sent out an official statement:
"It is not our policy that a hijab or any religious head covering be removed in order to pick up a SXSW badge. This was one volunteer who made an insensitive request and that person has been removed for the duration of the event. We are embarrassed by this and have apologized to Ibtihaj in person, and sincerely regret this incident.”
On Saturday, Muhammad was on a panel called "The New Church: Sport as Currency of American Life" for the festival.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Muhammad had a few words to say on the ID controversy. "I had a crappy experience checking in," she said. "Someone asking me to remove my hijab isn't out of the norm for me. ... Do I hope it changes soon? Yes, every day."
Check out one of our other articles on other happenings at this year's SXSW festival here.
Image: Sean M. Haffey