The Subway Ad That Calls Me A Savage by: Linda Sarsour
 (cross-posting from CityLimits.org)

While waiting for the train on the platform in a New York City station I always read the advertisements plastered on the walls. I don’t watch much television and these ads always update me on the newest movie releases, season premieres of television’s hottest primetime shows and NYC’s latest fashion trends. Starting this week, New Yorkers are in for something a bit out of the ordinary – in-your-face racism and the response to it.

An ad went up on Monday, September 24 in 10 train stations in New York City that reads, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” Many New Yorkers will pass right by them and not even flinch, but I am not that New Yorker. I am a First Amendment absolutist and I believe wholeheartedly that Pamela Geller, founder of Stop the Islamization of America, a cited hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has every right to express herself through these ads. I also believe, however, that with freedom of speech comes responsibility. Is it legal in a court of law to place these hateful ads? Absolutely. Are they moral and necessary? Absolutely not. This is not just about legality, but also about morality. Slavery was once legal in the United States, but that didn’t make it moral. Read More....