A 17-year-old California based high school student was misidentified in her yearbook photo, in which she wore a hijab, as “ISIS Phillips”.
The young woman, identified as Bayan Zehlif, denounced the incident on social media and said that her school has claimed that it was a typo.
Bayan Zehlif, a student at Los Osos High School, posted a photo from the yearbook on Facebook, saying that she had been left “hurt and embarrassed” by the incident.
I am extremely saddened, disgusted, hurt and embarrassed that the Los Osos High School yearbook was able to get away with this. Apparently I am ‘Isis’ in the yearbook. The school reached out to me and had the audacity to say that this was a typo. I beg to differ, let’s be real.Bayan Zehlif
School and Yearbook Staff Tweet Apologies
The school’s yearbook staff tweeted a public apology for the “mis-tagging” error, saying it is “currently working in coordination with the school and district office to remedy this situation.”
Susan Petrocelli, principal of Los Osos High School, also tweeted a public apology, saying the school “is taking every step possible to correct & investigate a regrettable misprint discovered in the yearbook. We sincerely apologise.”
The school has halted yearbook distribution and has asked that the 200-plus students who received a copy to return them.
A student who worked on the yearbook told KABC that the school formerly had a student named Isis Phillips, but that student has since transferred, possibly explaining the “misunderstanding.”
The 17-year-old student’s family is reticent about speaking to media at this point, KCBS reported. The young woman’s father told KCBS that the family is outraged about the association with Islamic State.
He said the family believes this was a racist slur directed at their daughter and is working with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles to address the situation.
Read Bayan’s full post here.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)