Why do this? Because racism is all around us, every day, and it is taken for granted by so many people. It is an act of radicalism to point at these acts and call them what they are. The more that we tolerate racism in our society, the more we will breed and nurture racists.
Today's example comes from the parking lot of my hotel:
I'll blow that up, if you can't see it:
"US Marines: Travel Agents to Allah"
Why is this racist? It is a reference to the war in Iraq, obviously, but makes no delineations between the members of an entire religion, Islam, and the specific individuals involved in the Iraqi conflict. There are 1.57 billion Muslims, and they are 23% of the population. They live across the world, and are drawn from every racial group.
It also flippantly refers to death - but only towards a particular segment of the population. War leads inevitably to glorification of killing, this tries to make it funny. And justified.
If you were a Muslim living in America, would you feel threatened by this bumper sticker? I would. This statement supports violence towards ALL Muslims.
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