She moved to the United States with her family in 1993 and attended a Catholic school in New York. But she and her sister said the family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths and prefer to be referred to as Lebanese, Arabs or Arab-Americans. "I'm proud to hear and see that somebody from the community is being acknowledged for their talent," he said.įakih was born into a powerful Shiite family in a village in southern Lebanon that was heavily bombed during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
She just won Miss USA, so what more can you say?" Aoun added.Īniss Baydoun, a 24-year-old man in Dearborn, was equally pleased about Fakih's crown. "There's a lot of negative vibes about Arab American people and she's the perfect example of someone to represent us. She's beautiful, she's intelligent," she said.
"I feel like she represents all of us and we're so proud of her. Rana Aoun is 20 and lives in Fakih's hometown of Dearborn. "I'm so happy because I'm Arabic like her. I love it," gushed Fatan Fawzi, who is 32 and describes herself as a mother. The title also comes as there is increased scrutiny of the conservative Muslim practice of cloaking women in burqas or hijabs, all encompassing clothes meant to hide the woman's body from everyone except a woman's husband. While the pageant was not certain whether she was the first Muslim or immigrant to win the title, her reign clearly comes at a time when many in the Arab and Muslim world are suspicious and hostile to America - and believe that America is hostile to them. Miss USA Is a Muslim Immigrant From Lebanonįakih is a Lebanese immigrant and a Muslim. The broadest smiles were on the many faces of Arab immigrants in Dearborn. It's not clear yet if Fakih's earlier triumph will taint her Miss USA crown, but in Michigan people were beaming over her selection. She was later stripped of her title as Miss USA runner-up and as Miss California because of a sexually explicit videotape in which she appeared alone. In 2009, the pageant's winner was overshadowed by the comments of runner-up Carrie Prejean opposing gay marriage. It was the latest controversy for the Miss USA pageant. They're encouraged to wear comfortable clothes," Spike said.įakih won some jewelry from the show's sponsors and a take home stripper pole. He said the contest was run by actual strippers, but the contestants did not strip.
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