Fez — Ameera Hashwi, the Lebanese-American hijab-wearing Miss Wayne County 2025, has drawn national attention after appearing in Dearborn’s Memorial Day Parade with her crown placed over her hijab and an American flag in hand.
Hashwi, a 25-year-old attorney from Dearborn Heights, Michigan, was crowned the 34th Miss Wayne County on August 10, 2025. The Miss Wayne County Scholarship Program lists her as a Wayne State University graduate, with a service initiative titled “Step Up & Serve,” focused on encouraging physical fitness and giving back.
Her parade appearance on Monday, May 25, placed her in one of Michigan’s most symbolically charged public settings: a civic ceremony honoring fallen U.S. soldiers. ClickOnDetroit reported that she was greeted with cheers during the parade, but later faced negative and Islamophobic comments online over her decision to appear visibly Muslim in the official procession.
A crown over a hijab
The image that circulated online was simple but powerful: Hashwi sitting in a convertible, smiling, waving to the crowd, wearing her sash and crown while holding the American flag.
For many supporters, the moment worked because it was not dramatic. It was ordinary civic participation. A local titleholder represented her county at a Memorial Day event, just as pageant winners often do across the United States.
But the backlash showed how quickly ordinary visibility can become politicized when the person in public view is a Muslim woman in hijab.
FOX 2 Detroit reported that critics called her clothing and religious visibility unpatriotic, while Hashwi pushed back by saying that being Muslim does not stop her from living her American dream.
That response became the center of the story. Hashwi did not present her hijab as a contradiction to American identity. She presented it as part of her own.
Who is Ameera Hashwi?
Hashwi is not only a pageant titleholder. She is also an attorney, and her public profile places service at the center of her platform.
The Miss Wayne County program lists her talent as a vocal performance of “Koul Chi Aam Yekhlass,” a detail that adds another layer to her public image: legal professional, community advocate, pageant winner, and visible Muslim woman in an American civic space.
Her win has also been described as a milestone for the program. Local and national reports have identified Hashwi as the first woman to win the Miss Wayne County title while wearing a hijab, placing her in the Miss America local competition system ahead of Miss Michigan 2026.
That is why her appearance resonated beyond Wayne County. It was not only about a parade. It was about who gets to look like a representative of a community.
Representation and backlash
Hashwi told ClickOnDetroit that the online backlash did not begin with the parade, but with her crowning. She said she tries to disconnect from hateful comments, especially because she does not want young Muslim girls to see attacks on their religion.
One detail from her account captured the emotional weight of the moment. During the parade, she said a little girl shouted to her mother, “Look mom, it’s a princess, and she wears a hijab.”
That sentence explains why the story spread. For critics, Hashwi’s hijab became a target. For others, especially Muslim and Arab-American families, it became a mirror.
Dearborn and Dearborn Heights are home to large Muslim and Arab-American communities, making Hashwi’s appearance especially meaningful in a region where questions of identity, immigration, faith, and civic belonging are part of everyday public life.
