Numerous complicated relationships have been documented on 90 Day Fiance and its many spinoffs.
But perhaps none has sparked more debate or encountered more cultutal conflict than the marriage of Avery Mills and Omar Albakour.
Mills, of course, is the Columbus, Ohio resident who converted to Islam while still in her teens and entered a relationship with Syria native Albakour, much to the chagrin of her family.
To Avery’s mother’s credit, her objections seemed to be mostly rooted in practical concerns for her daughter’s safety, and not the sort of ignorance and bigotry encountered by so many 90 Day couples.
(Syria remains an active war zone, after all.)
Sadly, it seems many viewers object to Avery and Omar’s relationship for the simple fact that she’s a white, formerly Christian American woman and he’s a Muslim man of Middle Eastern descent.
And this week, Mills recently lashed out against the mistreatment she’s received with a lengthy Instagram post.
“To anyone that doesn’t believe racism and bigotry isn’t still alive and well in America, just go look at my comment section,” Avery wrote.
“I have gotten death threats from Americans for the simple fact that I’m Muslim, and whole countries are banned from coming here. I grew up in a very diverse community where I heard white folks addressing black people as criminals and all Muslims as terrorist.”
Avery also stated that the recent death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi prompted internet bigots to tag her in comments speculating that she “must be so sad that [her] ‘cousin’ died.”
Mills’ Instagram is now private, seemingly in response to this harassment.
While the ignorance she’s encountered is obviously widespread, Avery’s latest remarks seem to be at least partially inspired by fellow 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days alum Deavan Clegg and her recent defense of Donald Trump.
"Um, I just read the article and it says somethings about Trump and the administration not liking people of color," Deavan said on Instagram Live.
"I’m actually quite pissed off about it," she complained.
"We might get hate for this, but Jihoon actually supports Trump."
Clegg continued:
"I won’t talk about my political views, but that’s something we don’t believe at all."
"We don’t believe that just because someone is of color they can’t come to America," she added.
"So I’m extremely pissed off about this article.
"We have nothing against the President of the United States," Deavan went on. "We live in Korea, and Jihoon can easily go to America whenever he wants."
Needless to say, it’s not hard to see how Avery might have taken issue with Deavan’s remarks.
On this week’s 90 Day reunion special, it was revealed that Avery and Omar are atill together, but face complications with regeard to where they’ll live.
Albakour, who’s training qualifies him to work as a periodontist, says it’s possible he may not be permitted to settle in the US.
“If we make that decision to move out of the country, we make that decision for good,” she told Omar. “We’re just giving up America altogether.”
The couple seemed open to the possibility of living in any number of Middle Eastern countries — but we’re guessing Avery’s parents are less than thrilled with that possibility.
