U.S. State Department Gets a Lesson

Published: 
Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Last month, Seattle Metro buses were running a disturbing ad.  Funded by the U.S. State Department, the ad featured pictures of 16 men wanted around the globe for terrorist activities.  The pictures of the men, all appearing to be Muslim with turbans, beards, and brown skin, were right below the large, bold message “FACES OF GLOBAL TERRORISM.”

As a Muslim American with family members who could easily be mistaken for “terrorists” due to their brown skin and beards, I was gratified by the strong community response to the ad. I found many others shared the ACLU’s and my understanding that the ad promoted racial profiling and encouraged stereotyping

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) first brought the ad to the ACLU’s attention, and we worked with CAIR to educate government officials on why it was objectionable. And that it was deeply problematic regardless of the professed aim of the ad program, which is to let people know that the federal government is offering sizable rewards for reporting suspected terrorists who may be in our community.

An ad that is placed on a city bus just passes right by and  leaves a fleeting impression – Muslim men with beards are terrorists – so we should report them. So many people have beards or the same features as the men pictured in the ads, which leads to the unfortunate consequences of people assuming that the man with the beard or the one with the turban is a terrorist. Nor would the ad program be effective. There is no way that the average person would be able to identify the various nationalities the pictured men are actually from, or to actually get the program’s contact information or other important details.

I had the opportunity of attending a meeting at the ACLU office with representatives from the State Department, CAIR, and several other civil rights and labor groups. What I found especially comforting was that – in addition to Muslims – a Lutheran bishop and a reverend also were present. These were people from several different faiths and ethnicities, all passionate about having the ad taken down, and all grasping why it could lead to discrimination and hate crimes.

Safeguarding civil rights is everyone’s responsibility. This experience showed that when community members come together, united not by our religion or ethnicity, but by our dedication to protecting human rights and discouraging hate, our voices are powerful enough to make a positive change.

Special thanks to all the organizations that participated in the meeting: the office of Rep. Jim McDermott, the office of King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski, CAIR-Washington, One America, the Faith Action Network, the Northwest Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Seattle Human Rights Commission, the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, ACRS, APACE, SEIU Local 775, UFCW Local 21, and Mothers For Police Accountability.