"You can't read this, but it makes you uncomfortable.
Don't be afraid."
Trump's campaign called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” and his transition team is considering a "Muslim registry". Given the surge in anti-Muslim violence and hate incidents throughout this campaign year and after the election, it's clear many people have an extremely blurry line in their minds between Muslims in general and terrorists in particular.
"All Muslims are Terrorists."
"Deport them All"
"I Hate Muslims"This truck is riding around Brooksville, FL scaring people to death. pic.twitter.com/ReXMUVJdun
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) November 11, 2016
This shirt is a riff on the tote bags that went viral earlier this year, designed by Rock Paper Scissors print shop. Their tote bag says (in Arabic): "This text has no other purpose than to terrify those who are afraid of the Arabic language." This original text acts as a humorous inside joke for people who can read Arabic or are familiar with the tote bags from social media. People who were genuinely uncomfortable because of the text had no other interaction with it. My thought was to do something similar but provide a less prominent translation underneath for people who don't speak Arabic to gently make them aware of their bias and assure them that they need not be terrified of an entire language.
Don't be afraid. Don't let fear drive you to do things or support policies that dehumanize and stigmatize innocent people.
Proceeds from the sale of this shirt will go to the ACLU and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).
