Not Invited to *Your* Home, Apparently
They keep saying “Go home.”
Go home.
I’m confused.
A lot of us were born here.
Where are we supposed to go?
This is our home.
Why does it get to be your home more than it’s mine?
(Please be advised that the contents of this video are extremely disturbing. Also, be advised, particularly if you are visiting this site from another nation that the opinions and ideas expressed by the protesters in this video are not necessarily representative of all Americans. But, somehow, that’s not making me feel better, right now.)
38 Responses to Not Invited to *Your* Home, Apparently
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I can’t see the video on my phone, but I don’t need to. I’ve heard it enough.
I wish it wasn’t like this. There shouldn’t be an “us versus them,” outside of sports.
As I wrote when I posted this to my Tumblr… “I give up. If this kind of vile hatred is the future of this country, then what’s the point?”
Seriously. This attitude is an abhorrent betrayal of everything the United States of America is SUPPOSED to be about. I simply cannot express my disgust strongly enough. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope that one day all these loathsome bigots will die out, and sanity will be restored by future generations who believe in the TRUE promise of America.
Heaven help us all.
@Dave2, Couldn’t have said it better myself, so I won’t.
That vid is just SOOO scary.
I am totally calling Rep. Ed Royce’s district office and Councilwoman Deborah Pauly’s office to request that they resign. Public officials shouldn’t be able to get away with doing unAmerican, racist bullshit like this.
@luckyfatima,
Calling the Villa Park City Council today to voice my concern over elected Councilwoman Deborah Pauly’s hate filled statements at that Yorba Linda, OC un-American, Islamophobic rally. What about you? Give the office a call. The Council may be reached at: (714) 998-1500.
And for Ed Royce,
714) 744-4056
As a fellow not-born-here-but-still-a-Floridian, I apologize for all of the idiots that not only live here but procreate in this state. People are more willing to accept the “Melting Pot” POV in the northeast, although even there there is prejudice and elitism – just ot as bad (not NEARLY as bad) as down here. Down here, if you’re not fortunate enough to be the right color, religion AND sexual orientation, you’re still, at best, just a second class citizen. I would say the feeling would be true if we were to take the Light Rail to Lakeland or Tampa but, oh wait, our Governor just single-handedly voted that down, didn’t he? Good think Florida has good weather and theme parks…probably two of the few things it has going for it.
@Sharon Heg, First, YOU don’t have to apologize for anything. Second, that was Orange County, CALIFORNIA! XOXO
@Faiqa, Oh CRAP. I saw Orange County, figured I’d view the video at a time where I wouldn’t mind hearing even MORE craptastic junk spewing and, well, I just totally blew it, didn’t I? Mea cupla. But the northeast is still more tolerant than many places, I think…
Faiqa…I don’t even know what to say. I feel like crying after watching that. I’m ashamed to call those people Americans. What they were doing is so unAmerican, in my view.
I am an American. I am half Arab. My grandparents were Shiite Muslims. They were also proud Americans but they were very aware of the discrimination their children would face if they gave them Arab/Muslim names, so they gave them American first names. They were so intent on assimilating that I am 50 years old and just found out, today! that my grandparents were Muslims. Because there was no sign of it in their home, except for the food we ate and the very few Arabic words I learned from my grandmother. I didn’t even know those were Arabic words when I was a little girl.
I can’t believe that all these years later there is still this racism. How do people not know that there have been American Muslims in this country since, well, forever? Are we so ignorant as a nation that we have representatives cheering this hateful behavior on?
I’m so distressed by this. I’m sorry, my friend.
Ugh! This is sick and sad and just plain wrong. It makes me feel horrible. I can’t even imagine. Why can’t we send the idiots to their own island and let US live in peace?
I’m delurking to say that watching this made me feel physically ill. I cannot fathom the stupidity, ignorance, and hypocrisy of these people. Those folks scare the hell out of me.
And “One nation under GOD, not ALLAH!”? I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure God’s looking down, shaking his head and saying, “Don’t bring my name into this, asshole. How do you STILL not get the whole “LOVE” concept?!”
It’s just gross. And disheartening. Sigh.
I couldn’t watch the whole thing. It has me in tears.
I cannot wrap my head around this.
I love you.
I am so sorry, Faiqa. So ashamed. So bereft at seeing those children screamed at. May God help us all.
And hey! There are white muslims. white muslims whose families arrived on the Mayflower, whose children are blonder than tea party children, whose blood relatives wrote the constitution. Democracy is what muslims are fighting and dying for all over the world, these days. And it is also what our troops are trying to preserve in the name of free muslims abroad, or so we’re told.
And by the way, this video breaks me. To see *my* people acting hatefully against *my people.* It’s a cruel torture to see, and one that I wish so fervently against, for the sake of my children, and for my own cognitive wholeness.
Astaghfirullah. May God forgive them.
This brought tears to my eyes and turmoil to my stomach. I just can’t fathom the concept of people believing something so wholly that they would scream at children, at strangers, at people they know nothing about. I also can’t compute how it’s even legal for elected officials to participate in this – isn’t there some format of non-hate clause written into their contracts?
I’m so happy to be where I am, truly. And I feel like a jerk for saying that, but I’ll take my gay-accepting, multicultural, ESL-heavy, status-judging life more than any of those peoples – the ones yelled at, and the ones who are actually stupid enough to believe they have a reason to yell. If there’s a hell… I don’t think those people understand what they’re setting themselves, and their children, up for.
Love to you, and all of yours.
Faiqa,,darling…I will take your advice and avoid watching and/or reading anything news related for the next few days. After seeing this video..(you know I am not the kind of person to say or do such a thing)..I really want to go over there and B@#*& -slap someone.
Go home? Ugh…I’d hate the thought of having to move back in with my parents.
Seriously though, those people are dummies. Period.
Ugh….people really do live this way. And what kills me? The whole thing is over skin pigment. PIGMENT!!
::shakes head::
For those who think that racism is not as bad in the Northeast, think again. I was born and raised here and Long Island is one of THE MOST segregated and racist places in the country. We may “say” that we’re not racist here because there aren’t lynchings, but that’s bullshit. There is plenty of hate crime activity going on here against all types of people.
Sorry for the rant, but it pisses me off when people put New York and the Northeast on some bullshit pedestal of racial sensitivity.
Thoroughly disgusting, and yet not one thing new here. Throughout the nation’s history, there have been groups like this, angry and hateful who did the same thing, and in most cases worst things, to German-Americans, Irish-Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Jewish Americans, Italian-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and more recently gay Americans. Unfortunately, it’s as American as apple pie.
And the Supreme Court’s decision this past week in the Westboro Church case guarantees the rights of the most hateful in our society to express their opinions, as long as they do so without violence and in a public space.
Despite the negative content of that video, I was most impressed by the courage of those walking through the crowds, continuing their lives, and not reacting to the hate.
Speechless and heartbroken.
Not that anything about this entire protest isn’t reprehensible, but it leaves an even more disgusting taste in my mouth to learn that Rabbi David Eliezrlie, the Chabad rabbi at Yorba Linda, was apparently a co-sponsor.
Chabad is a denomination of what one would call “ultra-Orthodox” Judaism, but it’s also been linked to some wonderful outreach and social justice programs throughout the United States, Israel and the world. And to see that they’re involved with this “go back home” type of hatred that Jews have been the victims of for quite a long time — that just makes me angry.
Perhaps I’m being more critical of him because he, too, is Jewish like me. Perhaps I hold him to a higher standard. But I do know with all certainty that there are a vast many other Jews out there who also vehemently disagree with his stance.
First, where do these crazy people think they came from? There weren’t any white people on this continent. White people had to murder hundreds of thousands of men, women and children to be here and even then that wasn’t enough. They then had to go out of their way to try and stamp out the native cultures. Hello, people, they made it ILLEGAL for natives to speak their own languages. The only natives to this place are BROWN! We are too complacent as a people. This type of thing should not be protected under the guise of free speech. I am disappointed in the American people for protecting this crap. We cannot forget that many of our parents remember desegregation. As an adult, I am finally hearing all of the terrible stories from that time. Crosses being burned in the yard, because you have brown friends. Men with guns in pick up trucks blocking the exits to your office because you only have one waiting room for your patients. Exclusion from CHURCH events, because you “hang around with THOSE people”. We can’t forget these stories, just because our president is black. We have to remember and fight against this type of hatred. There is not any difference, in my book, between these protesters, the KKK and the skin heads.
A couple weeks ago I was doing some research into our family tree; on my father’s side all our ancestors came to the US from England and were amongst the very first British settlers on this continent, and I can trace one line back 16 generations, to 1632 when the first guy in that line made the voyage. My mom’s family is French Canadian and there are a few Native Americans thrown in there for good measure. My family’s about as American as they come, with the deepest roots possible.
My sister and parents have all converted to Islam over the course of the past 3 years, at various times when taking their shahada has been right for them.
My sister wears a hijab outside her home (and even in her home around my husband whom she’s known since she was 14 and considers to be her older brother), and in Connecticut there are relatively few white Muslim women to be seen. She recently told me she was in line at a store in our hometown to pay for some purchases when an older man reached the counter at the same time. She gestured for him to go through the line first and he responded negatively; after asking him what was wrong he told her to “just go home”. She said, “I was raised in this town my entire life” and pointed out that our family owns a local farm that’s been operating and prominent since the late 1800s. It was only then that he seemed embarrassed by his blunder.
So yes, the hatred is widespread across the continent.
Unbelievable.
I am so sick of idiotic hatred.
Faiqa,
When I see things like this, read about the extreme hatred that has infected people in this country it brings tears to my eyes and a pain to my heart. I worry about the kind of world we’re raising our children in. Then, always two quotes come to mind.
1) “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ~ Edmund Burke
2) “Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fail. Think of it, ALWAYS!” Mahatma Gandhi
What’s that you say? ignorant motherfuckers in orange country? NO. I don’t believe it. Those guys there are ‘rel Emericans’.
I must apologize for all the kooks and freaks that are from Orange County, where I grew up. I never realized how conservative the OC was until I moved away in the late 80′s.
This kind of lunacy is simply wrong. Here’s a group that is in support of trying to help others and because they are of a certain origin, they are being asked to “go home” As you said… this is your home.
These people make me sick to share a zip code with, or even a city. Ignorant people suck. It’s sad they make the most noise and create such a poor global image for Americans. I don’t think they represent the majority. Certainly not me.
I viewed the video first about 15 minutes ago, and I left without leaving a comment. But I can’t get it out of my mind. I am appalled, of course. And so very sorry. Mostly, I am so very sorry about those children who are walking past such clear hatred for them and their religion and their lives. How can they process that? How can an adult process that? Horrid. It sickens me.
I can’t even watch the whole thing. This ignorance and hatred is despicable, and I’m surprised that this didn’t cross the line to defamatory and harassment, actually.
Are you hoping I’ll tell you that you belong here?
Who am I to say who does and doesn’t belong? My family’s imported.
Pretty certain if we had proof there was life on other planets for sure we’d globally bond as a people and then focus our fear and hatred and “go home!” mentality on beings from other planets. Because fear and hate are apparently fundamental to our existence.
Oh my God – those babies. BABIES being screamed at. This video makes me cry.
I don’t understand – how this is legal? We don’t allow pornography and “indecent exposure” around children and in public in the name of “decency”.
How is it LEGAL for political officials to support bullying CHILDREN?
I really wish I didn’t click play. Seething now. I wasn’t born here, but that doesn’t make America less my home. I think you’ll appreciate this post I wrote a while ago: http://www.deepsouthmoms.com/2009/08/who-arent-you-calling-american-rtp.html Fist bump to you, my friend.
I couldn’t watch the whole thing. My chest got heavy & I wanted to punch the screen.
I didn’t want to watch the whole thing. But I did. And the length of it I think is most telling. This wasn’t just an isolated moment. This video speaks to how hate has been rationalized and made acceptable for many many people in a very permanent way. Go home? How dare they.
And HOW is religious persecution like this legal? In OUR country, created in part to allow religious freedom?
Disgusted, horrified, helpless and embarrassed for this country.
I can’t watch the video due to “copyright” issues or something. Either way, judging by the comments, I am not sure I’d be able to watch it all the way through anyway.
Absolutely disgusting.
I’m a Muslim living in OC, and I must say that while I am very grateful that this kind of behavior is getting attention, it’s so not the norm. I am distinctly Muslim in my attire, and (especially lately) I get way more smiles than frowns when I go out. There are way more friendly people here than such incidents indicate.
However, just when I think it’s safe for me to always venture out alone, this sort of stuff comes out and reminds me: there is safety in numbers.
@F.emme, What an important perspective… thank you for sharing your experience.