Rilek1Corner

Tag: racists

  • Young Chinese Boy Makes Racist Remarks, Refuse To Sit Beside Malay Man In Theatre, Parents Never Do Anthing Because He’s Just A Child

    Young Chinese Boy Makes Racist Remarks, Refuse To Sit Beside Malay Man In Theatre, Parents Never Do Anthing Because He’s Just A Child

    Dear Chinese man, and his family,

    I am that guy that was in the cinema theater before you. I wanted to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but hated crowds, so I decided to watch later.
    I am that guy who your son (who could not have been more than 10) didn’t want to sit beside, because he said: “I don’t want to sit beside Malay people”.
    I am that guy who was shaking in so much anger that he could not enjoy the first ten minutes of the movie because there was a part of him that just wanted to go over and pour his drink over the boy.

    You don’t get to tell me that “He’s just a kid”.
    A kid should be thinking of the action figures he should get after the movie, and not caring who sits beside him.

    You don’t get to tell me to “Let it go”.
    You have never experienced racism in Singapore, at least not as much as the minorities do.
    Like I told to your face, if you sat down somewhere and someone says “I don’t want to sit beside Chinese people”, how would you feel?

    I also said that he’s lucky he’s still young, because I would punch his face in if he was older.

    Also, my wife is Chinese. The majority of my friends are Chinese.
    If any of them were there with me, they would have probably told you off worse than I ever could.

    As a parent, you should teach your child to respect others.
    You bring them to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where the lead actor is not a White Caucasian male, but rather, a British man, born to Nigerian parents.

    Star Wars, where the story is about beings of different races getting together to defeat an evil dictatorship.

    And yet I was treated like a pariah, by a child. Speaks volumes about your character.

    I chose to sit somewhere else not to pander to his (and by extension, your) racism, I chose to sit somewhere else because I am the better man.

    I am that man who will come to your aid if sometime in the future you get beaten up black and blue because you decided to be racist, and the victims have less self control than me.

    I will be that person who will call the Police, and the Paramedics (of which many are Malay, and Indian) to help you.
    I will be that person who will stay by your side until help arrives.

    I will do so because I was taught to not judge a person by how he looks, how he smells, or how he talks.

    I was also taught to be the better man, in the hopes that one day, we can all be colour blind, and not judge each other based on race.

    Dear Chinese man, and his family,

    I am human first, Malay second. Maybe you should teach your family that too.

    God Bless,
    That Malay Guy.

    Edit # 1: So some people (2, actually) have pointed out to me that “pariah” is actually an offensive word. I have no intention of being offensive, and the word “pariah” is actually from the English language, meaning outcast. That is where the context of the word is. Go do a Google search for the word.

    Edit # 2: Some other people have said that I cannot be the “better man” if I said I would’ve punched his face. I’ll admit that the thought did cross my mind, then I thought to myself, he’s a kid, and I don’t want to ruin the movie experience for everyone else. Let life be the kids teacher. (I’m not a violent person heh)

     

    Source: Sani B Sarip

  • #Je Suis Ahmed: A Message For Everyone

    #Je Suis Ahmed: A Message For Everyone

    After the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, the phrase “Je Suis Charlie” — “I am Charlie” — became the unofficial slogan of solidarity with the shooting victims. #JeSuisCharlie trended on Twitter, and people held up signs featuring the phrase at rallies all over the world.

    Je Suis Charlie’s message is an important one in the wake of this horrifying crime. But now a new hashtag campaign, #JeSuisAhmed, has arisen to augment it. Its message of tolerance deserves — perhaps needs — to be heard as well.

    Terrorist vs Muslim

    #JeSuisAhmed

    #JeSuisAhmed honors Ahmed Merabet, the French police officer who was murdered outside the Charlie Hebdo offices by the same gunmen who went on to murder the magazine’s staffers. Merabet, in addition to being a police officer, is believed to have been part of France’s large Muslim community.

    I am not Charlie, I am Ahmed the dead cop. Charlie ridiculed my faith and culture and I died defending his right to do so. #JesuisAhmed

    — Dyab Abou Jahjah (@Aboujahjah) January 8, 2015
    Twitter users have rallied to the hashtag to argue that Merabet, like the murdered journalists, should be honored as a defender of free speech — particularly because he died trying to protect a publication that had mocked and derided his own religion:

    “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire #JeSuisAhmed

    — Adalia Conti (@AJ_Conti) January 8, 2015
    #JeSuisAhmed does not dispute the sentiment of Je Suis Charlie. Rather, it adds to it, by calling attention to the importance of tolerance as well as solidarity. That is important in its own right, but it’s also an elegant response to those who might respond to the attack with broad hostility towards Islam, or suspicion of Muslims as a group.

    Many people have pointed out that the actions of a few Muslims aren’t representative of the entire religion. But those reminders can feel like an abstraction in the context of an emotional debate over a terrorist attack. #JeSuisAhmed sends that message far more powerfully, by pointing out that the same logic could be used to conclude that all Muslims are heroic police officers.

    The hashtag was also a reminder that the victims of Islamist terrorists are primarily Muslim:

    Il faut pas l’oublié, les musulmans sont la 1ere victime du terrorisme #JeSuisAhmed

    — Lincoln Osiris (@Bill9011) January 7, 2015
    Other users tweeted #JeSuisAhmed to point out the injustice of focusing on the attackers’ Muslim faith, while failing to mention Merabet’s.:

    In case you are confused… #JeSuisAhmed pic.twitter.com/ckpchvqHey

    — HibHop (@misshibhop) January 9, 2015
    Ahmed Merabet protected people. He was the true face of modern Islam. His murderers were not. #JeSuisAhmed

    — Imran Ahmed (@Imi_Ahmed) January 7, 2015
    Je Suis Dalia

    In a Facebook post entitled “Je Suis Dalia,” Dalia Mogahed, the Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, further extended the message of #JeSuisAhmed, using it to highlight the prejudice inherent in the demand that Muslims like her denounce or reject the Charlie Hebdo murders.

    Post by Dalia Mogahed.
    Mogahed’s post layers a new, individualistic message of tolerance onto the communal “Je Suis” rallying cry: a reminder that Muslims are individuals, and that the actions of murderous extremists should not be attributed to others who happen to share her faith.

    The post hit a nerve, garnering more than 1500 likes and 600 shares within a day. In an email, Mogahed noted that others were sharing the same words under their own names.

    Its popularity is understandable, because Mogahed’s post is, at its most basic level, a rejection of bigotry and prejudice. As Max Fisher wrote yesterday, blaming an entire group for the actions of a few individuals is “the very definition of bigotry.” Worse, that same logic perpetuates extremist violence itself, both from Islamist extremists and from others. “It is also, by the way, the very same logic that leads French non-Muslims, outraged by the Charlie Hebdo murders, to attack French mosques in hateful and misguided retaliation.”

    Mogahed’s post serves as a polite but meaningful request that such bigotry end — and an implicit reminder that it can leave innocent people in danger.

    Update: A number of outlets, including The Telegraph and The Guardian, have reported that Merabet was Muslim. The Telegraph reports that Merabet’s family plans to bury him in a Muslim cemetery, and that a friend of Mr. Merabet referred to him as a Muslim. However, other outlets, including the New York Times, say that his religion is unconfirmed. Social media users citing his name have widely presumed that he was Muslim.

     

    Source: www.vox.com

  • Yusuf Islam’s Return to Performing Music Received Criticism From Some Muslims

    Yusuf Islam’s Return to Performing Music Received Criticism From Some Muslims

    Yusuf Islam – formerly known as Cat Stevens – has rarely been seen on stage since he converted to Islam in 1977. In recent years, however, he has returned to live performing and, with new album Tell ‘Em I’m Gone out last month, Yusuf played two sold-out gigs in London this week as part of his European tour.

    The British musician has now revealed that his decision to start producing and performing music again led to criticism from some Muslims.

    “I was getting criticism from the Muslim community: why are you picking up a guitar again? What’s happening to you?” the 66-year-old said in an interview with AFP.

    “I say: listen to me, this is part of Islamic civilisation, we have lost our contact with it, we lost our vibrant approach to life and to culture.”

    Yusuf, who is performing songs from the new album, as well as classics such as Wild World, Moonshadow and Peace Train from his 1960s and 1970s heyday on the tour, said of his dual identity: “I’m a mirror glass for the Muslims as well as the Western world, which looks at me in a slightly different way, but they are looking in the same mirror.”

    Yusuf will also return to the United States for his first tour there in 35 years. It comes 10 years after he was banned from the country after his name appeared on a no-fly list – a fact he blamed on mistaken identification.

    “I feel very welcome now,” he said and described his inauguration into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a “significant moment where they kind of remembered me”.

    “I think it’s [the tour] going to be pretty good, I’m hoping,” he said.

    “One song I do is The First Cut is the Deepest. I try to remind people I wrote that song, not Rod Stewart.” Yusuf continued.

    When he first converted to Islam in 1977, Yusuf hung up his guitar to dedicate himself to philanthropic and educational work.

    He attracted controversy in 1989 when he defended the fatwa issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Muslims to kill British author Salman Rushdie for blasphemy. He later dismissed his remarks as in bad taste, but there are many who still reproach him for not apologising.

    After his US experience, two British newspapers alleged that he was involved in terrorism. Yusuf successfully sued them for libel, but the whole experience has left its mark.

    “It’s always on the knife’s edge as far as I am concerned,” he said of his relationship with the media. “I can never quite trust anybody anymore.”

    Everyone, however, is welcome to come and see him perform live. “People who want to remember me as Cat Stevens – welcome. Those who want me as Yusuf, you’re here,” he said.

     

    Source:  www.telegraph.co.uk