A Few Miles From San Bernardino, a Muslim Prom Queen Reigns

* E pluribus unum, Latin for "Out of many, one" is a phrase on the Seal of the United States.
The traditionally understood meaning of the phrase was that out of many states (or colonies) emerges a single nation. However, in recent years its meaning has come to suggest that out of many peoples, races, religions, languages, and ancestries has emerged a single people and nation—In other words, the miracle of the American experiment.


FONTANA, Calif. — In the days after the December terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., when pictures of the hijab-wearing suspect filled television screens and newspapers, Zarifeh Shalabi’s mother and aunts stayed at home.

With their home just a few miles from the scene of the attack that left 14 dead, they worried about an anti-Muslim backlash. When they went shopping, Zarifeh, 17, said, other mothers pulled their children away when they saw the women wearing head scarves.

“We were more afraid that someone was going to hurt us,” Zarifeh said.

But this month, Zarifeh received the ultimate symbol of teenage acceptance: She was crowned prom queen after her non-Muslim friends campaigned for her by wearing hijabs in solidarity.

“We saw it as a chance to do something good, to represent something good,” said a friend, Sarahi Sanchez, who like Zarifeh is one of a few dozen peer mentors at Summit High School. “This was a way to prove we don’t have problems with bullying or racism.”

Zarifeh said her win “proved that not all Muslims are something to worry about.”

“They don’t see me as a threat,” she said, “they see me as their friend.”
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On the night of the prom, Zarifeh and a large group of female friends rode a school bus to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, where they danced through the night.

While Zarifeh stood on stage with the rest of the prom court, her younger sister checked Snapchat to see the latest updates. A few minutes later, she saw the news: Her sister was Summit High’s prom queen.

“Everyone was screaming, and I was just shocked,” Zarifeh said.

With the flowing fabric of her hijab, the crown would not stay put, and Zarifeh spent much of the night letting her friends wear it.

“We all felt like we had won,” said Savanna Smith, who called herself Zarifeh’s campaign manager. “It was so exciting because she is so covered up and she doesn’t show what every girl at prom shows, and she still won. It was like she can still go out there and represent a fine, elegant woman.”

Her friend Sarahi said, “I feel like we have something to teach the rest of the country, it makes me really proud.”

While her friends went to a nearby diner, Zarifeh knew her mother was expecting her home. The next morning, she celebrated with friends at the Ar-Rahman mosque, where she teaches children each week.

“People there were proud, too — it was something exciting, something different,” she said. “I’m not what someone thinks of when they think of prom queen.”

Last edited by Goose (4/30/2016 7:16 am)