Hello all,
I am writing to you today from Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan as a member of the Club of Political Science.
For those of you who don't know, Dearborn is the home of the TLC TV Show "All-American Muslim". The purpose of the show is to allow viewers to get a glimpse of the life of Muslim's post 9/11, and to show that Muslims living in Dearborn are American just like anyone else.
Recently, a Conservative Extremist group from Florida called the Florida Family Association contacted many of the companies who had bought advertisement on the show. Here is the letter they sent them.
The Learning Channel's new show All-American Muslim is propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many Muslims who are advancing Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia law.
The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to the liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish.
One of the most troubling scenes occurred at the introduction of the program when a Muslim police officer stated "I really am American. No ifs and or buts about it." This scene would appear to be damage control for the Dearborn Police who have arrested numerous Christians including several former Muslims for peacefully preaching Christianity.
Many situations were profiled in the show from a Muslim tolerant perspective while avoiding the perspective that would have created Muslim conflict thereby contradicting The Learning Channel’s agenda to inaccurately portray Muslims in America.
Clearly this program is attempting to manipulate Americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and to influence them to believe that being concerned about the jihad threat would somehow victimize these nice people in this show.
I encourage you to stop supporting this show with your advertising dollars.
For those of you who haven't realized it yet, what is above is something we call "racism". The Florida Family Association is known for its tirades against gays, even going so far as to protest efforts to establish anti-bullying policies towards gays. This association has only one active member, its president.
You may think that no crazy company would give in to such lies and hatred. That no company here in America would actualy beleive these inaccurate falicies about a show trying to prove that Muslims are American.
But wait.
Home improvement chain Lowe's succumbed to this racist organization's request. Lowe's withdrew its advertisements from the show. It also realesed this statement:
“Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lightning rod for many of those views,” the statement said. “As a result we did pull our advertising on this program.”
The Florida Family Association, meanwhile, has taken down its website, and put up in its place a picture of a picture of Executive Director David Caton and a brief message stating that the group encountered an “extremely mean-spirited” attack.
“Because of our real concern for the terrorism that is a way of life for some folks, we ourselves have become victims,” the statement said. “Because we urge others to be vigilant, we become the targets.”
We as American citizens cannot allow Corporations to not only be greedy, but racist as well. We here in the Dearborn community have joined with communities all over the country in protesting Lowe's bigotry.
Ladies and gentlement I am a Muslim American. I enjoy watching football. I hate it when it snows alot, but not enough for a snow day. My favorite show is Law and Order SVU. I am every bit as American as all of you, and I see no reason for an organization to beleive that showing that we are American is propoganda. I am asking all of you to tell your parents and friends to boycott Lowe's because of its bigotry.
Thank you,
Husain Bazzi