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Dear Friends:
Please sign on to this petition against bigotry - then pass it on to ALL of your networks - share this widely. Visit this link (SignOn by MoveOn.org) now to sign on (your e-mail address will not be published):
When TLC first announced the launching of the "All-American Muslim" reality show in July of this year, it quickly landed on the radar of the fringe anti-Islam/Islamophobia industry here in the United States. These are the same people who successfully attacked Whole Foods and Campbell's Soup for introducing a Halal line of products, targeted to practicing American Muslims, and whose bigoted activities are well-documented in a report published by the Center for American Progress titled "Fear, Inc." These groups, spearheaded by the likes of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer of "Stop the Islamization of America", and others, acted swiftly to hijack the public platform created by the show, so that they could spew hatred of the most heinous and reprehensible kind, against Muslims and Islam, all while selling books and speeches calling to their fringe cause.
"All-American Muslim" premiered in November to critical acclaim from the New York Times, the Guardian, NPR, Time Magazine, the Atlantic, USA Today, and others, to mention in posts and articles from notable conservatives such as Melissa Crawley of Daily Republican News, blogger Matt Lewis of the Daily Caller (who invited and interviewed an "All-American Muslim" cast member,) and Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood, and to a record 1.7 million viewers. Yet no sooner had it premiered that the anti-Islam/Islamophobia industry frantically urged their supporters to contact the network's advertisers, and to demand that they pull their commercial spots from that hour on TLC, in an attempt to strangle the show off of the air. Before a single advertiser could confirm or deny their position, the Florida Family Association touted that advertisers were fleeing the show "like rats from a sinking ship", clearly aware that the greatest advantage of this invented "whisper campaign" lies in its ability to plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of future advertisers for the show.
Let it be known that the virus of extremism is not exclusive to any one group of people, as is increasingly evident from the hate-mongering climate that has gripped some across our nation. And that mainstream American voices, of all backgrounds, are our most viable cure today. It is time for all of us as Americans to once again say no to hate-mongering and bigotry. United, we must reach out to the corporate executives and decision-makers of these big brands - from Home Depot to T-Mobile, Amway to Stop & Shop - to get their positions on the record, while demanding that they publicly repudiate bigoted calls to stop advertising during "All-American Muslim". We believe that a concerted effort to gain the support of these companies can force steam out of a bigoted industry - that aims to cause deeper rifts between Americans and between global citizens.
Please sign on to this petition against bigotry now. Use this link:
We need to get these signatures quickly, so keep spreading the word via e-mail, telephone, Facebook, Twitter - everywhere!
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