By ANDREA HUETE

In a nation that has become increasingly biased towards Muslims (I would say somewhat due to the new administration but, I digress), Nike is fighting back through product to show its support for athletes everywhere.

You may have heard of President Trump’s travel ban he implemented at the beginning of his administration. Many athletes were speaking up against this act of racism and bigotry, including Olympic medalist, Ibtihaj Muhammad, who was the first woman to ever compete for the USA wearing a Hijab.

Many companies in positions of power, have been asked where they stand on the entire situation regarding the election and the new president. Some have, some haven’t, and some are able to make it abundantly clear where they stand without actually saying a word.

Nike released a campaign on Feb. 17 that featured athletes from the Middle East and North Africa, tying into the Syrian refugee crisis. This new advertisement features strictly female athletes, and has a powerful message to women. The message also has an audio overlay of a woman speaking in Arabic. This specific advertisement now has over two million views.

Nike made their stance even more clear on Monday, releasing details on the new Pro Hijab. The Nike Pro Hijab is set for release in spring 2018 and has created a lot of buzz on social media. Nike stated that it has been working on the idea since 2012 when Sarah Attar represented Saudi Arabia in the Olympics.

People tend to follow companies that are in higher positions of power. Even though Nike is not the first company to include the idea of hijabs in sportswear, I’m excited that such a big corporation is stepping up to the plate to combat all the recent xenophobia. Hopefully more corporations will follow suit and the bigotry can be combated.