In an interview with CNN, University of Michigan senior Kathy Zhu said she was just citing statistics and facts when she criticized Black people and Muslims.
Last week, the conservative activist was dethroned by the Miss World America organization, which described her tweets as “offensive, insensitive and inappropriate.” The group said she violated the competition’s rules of “good character.”
“Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks?” Zhu wrote in one of the now-deleted Tweets. “Fix problems within your own community before blaming others.”
Asked why she focused on Black-on-Black violence, Zhu said she was responding to a Twitter thread in which people were complaining about police using excessive force on African Americans. Zhu insisted the tweet was not offensive because "it's backed up by facts."
"That's a statistic. You can find it on a website," Zhu told CNN. "I think it's awful how the left thinks it's racist."
What's also backed up by facts is that most white murders are committed by white people, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Zhu's response was also dismissive of another statistic: Black people are disproportionately subjected to police brutality.
Zhu, who is Chinese-American, also targeted Muslims in another deleted tweet stemming from when she was a freshman at the University of Central Florida.
“There is a ‘try a hijab on’ booth at my college campus,” Zhu, who is Chinese-American, tweeted. “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?”
Zhu twisted the narrative, tweeting that she was stripped of “my Miss Michigan title due to my refusal to try on a hijab in 2018.”
Miss World America's State/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamaphobic, and insensitive.
— Kathy Zhu (@PoliticalKathy) July 19, 2019
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. pic.twitter.com/K1Btho0Pgq
But her refusal to "try on a hijab" wasn't the issue. It was her suggestion that Islam is inherently oppressive.
Zhu told CNN her tweet was not offensive because "so many women in Muslim countries right now who are being stoned to death because they don't want to wear a hijab due to their husbands' requirements to do so."
What she's ignoring is that a vast majority of Muslims, especially in America, are peaceful and compassionate.
“Miss World America’s Station/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamaphobic, and insensitive,” she complained on Twitter.
Zhu was dethroned the same week Trump suggested four congresswomen of color should "go back" to their countries if they don't like America.
Conservative & Proud pic.twitter.com/ljQ03Ad2iR
— Kathy Zhu (@PoliticalKathy) December 20, 2017
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