# Help me respond to this extremely racist email



## adventuregirl (Nov 22, 2002)

I am fu*&ing floored! I received this email forward from my FIL this morning and am so worked up over how incredibly ignorant racist and offensive it is to me, I cannot think of words to respond that aren't as angry as I am that someone would send this to me.

Quote:

HARD TO BELIEVE!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of PanAm Flight 103!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military barracks in Saudi Arabia!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001!

REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!

Now the United States Postal Service is making available for sale, a commemorative first class holiday postage stamp to ... REMEMBER and HONOR the EID MUSLIM holiday season.

We are forbidden prayer in schools, forbidden the pledge of allegiance in public, however a branch of our government is allowed to honor and glorify the holiday of the Muslim god. The same god of those who are destroying the USA, murder by murder.

REMEMBER when purchasing your stamps at the post office... this Muslim stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of Muslims. This stamp honors the god of those who have murdered and will continue to murder our citizens and who have and will continue to put fear into our lives.

The USP is forbidden to use the words "In God We Trust", yet a stamp honoring the god of those who are destroying the USA is acceptable.

Pass this along to every AMERICAN you know, whether by e-mail or otherwise.
I am just shaking over this. The fact that this was sent to so many people, it was one of those FW:FW:FW:..., that people think this way and have the gaul to think that others (like me) feel this way as well. I am shocked, hurt, pissed and offended at the highest level right now.

I feel like I need to reply to all people who were copied on this email and let them know what a "slap in the face" it was to read the ignorance and racism that was passed on in this email. There are so many things that I want to scream about here, my mind is spinning.

So, your thoughts, rants, advice, whatever, would be so appreciated so that I can sort it all out and get together a response. I can't let this one go. TIA

-adventuregirl


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## turquoise (Oct 30, 2002)

Sorry folks, I deleted my post because I was just so mad when I wrote it. GRRRRRR








































































Sorry to all you who read it before I fixed it.


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## kama'aina mama (Nov 19, 2001)

Snopes tackled this one a while back.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/boycotts/eidstamp.asp
That nasty little email has been circling the globe for at least a year. I would also like to point out that Islam is a religion, not a race. So it's a bigoted email but is only racist in the sense that so many Americans can't seem to get it straight that not all Muslims are brown people living in far off countries.
Good luck politely setting your FIL straight.


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## Marg of Arabia (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:

This stamp honors the god of those who have murdered and will continue to murder our citizens and who have and will continue to put fear into our lives.

Follow this link to see the stamp......
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

Then tell me what the difference is??? The stamps at this U.S. postal site are the same. Just different religions. Why the hell shouldn't we have a muslim one??







:

http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/po...ubject/Holiday

I am angry


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## kama'aina mama (Nov 19, 2001)

Marg... I keep waiting to see a similar essay about the CHRISTIAN who bombed OK City, etc... and how dare they print stamps about THEIR holiday.


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## turquoise (Oct 30, 2002)

Ok, feeling better now. How about stating that you're proud to live in a country that has freedom of religion. Where people of all religions try to live together in harmony. And you're happy that religious persecution is a crime. Good for you USPS. Isn't that what most of the settlers came to the US for? Freedom from religious persecution?









but I do still wish there was a way to politely throw in something about him being a backwards inbred hick.

One can pick any religion and find a healthy heap of dirty deeds. Bad people are just bad people.


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## merpk (Dec 19, 2001)

Isn't there a way for ISP's to track down where these originate from? If they could be cut at the start, then this whole chainmail forwarding thing wouldn't be happening, right?

I mean, if something is forwarded, it lists everybody who's got it/sent it, right?

Angry calls or cancellations might get their attention ... or some really negative publicity.

Whaddaya think?


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## MelMel (Nov 9, 2002)

this is sorta OT, but I thought of this when reading the OP, so in my weird little head, its on topic. ANYWAY, last x-mas, I had to get stamps to send my bills, and some new years letters to family and friends...well, the PO ONLY had stamps with the 'virgin mary' or something on them.....?! no other ones available to give me, so I didnt purchase stamps. I am an atheist and absolutely could not put religious stamps on my new years letters going to everyone I know....it made me so mad, I told the guy there that it was a violation of church and state to only offer religiosely biased stamps in a government office....:LOL he didnt care in the slightest...which is fine, its really not that big of a deal.

They should have all religions, anyway. They should even have a little fish with legs or something for the evolution believing people. It is too much of a given that everyone is cool with a jesus and mary and all that stuff. ...now I'm really getting off topic!

the part of that email that really bugs me is the 'we cant pray in school, etc' he is mad because religion is excluded???? what is he doing??? what freaks.(not your fil as much as whoever supports that email) the arrogance of assuming your right, and everyone else is evil...sheesh.


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

That makes me sick. And sad.

It's a gorgeous stamp, by the way, and the story behind it is that a bunch of AMERICAN Muslim kids petitioned the USPS for a Ramadan stamp, went through all the channels that the other special interest groups (breast cancer, etc.) do, and succeeded.


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## Ms. Mom (Nov 18, 2001)

turquoise







thanks for editing! I didn't see your original post - but thanks









This email is so HORRIBLE! I think I'd have been worked up about it as well.

Maybe you could email him back and say something like "thank you for bringing this to my attention. It's a lovely stamp and I'll REMEMBER to purchase them the next time I go to the post office". Ok, I've got a slightly evil side









I don't care for my FIL so I'd probubly go off on him for something like this. I already gave it to him about a forward on Christians banning together as Americans. It insinuated that Americans WERE a Christian society only







I'm not Christian by the way!


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## 3boys4us (Mar 7, 2002)

I have received this and sent back a reply that pointed out that I could be muslim or any person on the list could be related to an Islamic person. That it was insulting esp. since. many Americans are not of the Christian right wing - our own Taliban.


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## Dragonfly (Nov 27, 2001)

A bit







T but - what a lovely stamp!

And I wanted to mention that I was very heartened the other day to see NBC put up a little "interlude" (between commercials and programming) that said, "Happy and Blessed Ramadan." Maybe insignificant, but any little step toward recognition and understanding is a positive one in my book.









As for that e-mail, I doubt that any response would make an impact. But perhaps a gentle reminder that prayer is not forbidden in schools and we are welcome to spout the pledge in public any time we like would make you feel better? That could quite nicely be coupled with a request that no further bigoted e-mails be passed your way....


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

I got this email a while ago too. I was NOT happy. I don't remember what I sent back, but I know I didn't let it go. It angers me that people assume that because I'm white (even though my son's father is from Kuwait) I agree with them.







I think attitudes like the one in the email are disgusting and I have to wonder what the heck is wrong with some people?!


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## sha_lyn (Jul 27, 2002)

here is the response I sent to my cousin and everyone that she sent that horrible e mail too.

*I can't even express how angry this e mail makes me. Just because few radicals do something extreme, it does not mean that those beliefs are held by the majority of those in that religion. If that were the case we should also boycott everything Christian, because of all those who have killed and claimed it was for God. Such as those who kill abortion Dr's and blow up abortion clinics.
Sorry but I find this e mail highly offensive

*


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

Ugh ugh ugh and yuck :-(

From a philatelic POV, Eid stamps have been coming out at this time of year since 2001, so this is actually the 3rd one.

Dar
(edited to fix year)


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## dentente (Aug 14, 2002)

Welcome to America! Land of er...free speech? Man, the joker who penned this piece of silliness is looking to get a rise out of people. I think it's a trolly, trolly joke. That people are actually forwarding it is sad. THOSE are the people who deserve your ire. Yell at THEM.

Denny


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## adventuregirl (Nov 22, 2002)

Thanks everyone, I am going to stew a while on this one before writing my response, all of yours are helping. I don't want to start a fight with my FIL, we have a good relationship, and in 10 years I have never heard him support anything like this and I do want to be somewhat polite, but it is so hard not to just explode.

kama, thanks for pointing out the race/religion thing, you know when I was spouting off to my dh, I was saying how could they say that, I am going to go and collect stats on Christian evils for my rebuttal. How can you compare a religion to one's country of origin (i.e. USA, we are not a race NOR a religion, but a country created based on the freedom of those things)? So I do understand that it is religious bigotry, I guess in my fury, the choice of words was incorrect.

I am going to send this stamp this year on my new year cards.


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by adventuregirl_
*
I am going to send this stamp this year on my new year cards.*








I don't usually send cards, but this year I will, and guess which stamp is going to be on them.







Thanks for the idea. :LOL I think I remember now who sent me that email and she will be getting one and I might even write under it what the stamp is because she probably won't know. :LOL

Humm, do they have any gay rights stamps? I have someone that sent a nasty email about banning gay marriages. I'd like to send her a card too.

Edit: If I wanted to go overboard I could have the card be a picture of my kids, each wearing clothing associated with different religions. I'd have to think of a quote to put under it.


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## kama'aina mama (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:

_Originally posted by AnnMarie_
*Edit: If I wanted to go overboard I could have the card be a picture of my kids, each wearing clothing associated with different religions. I'd have to think of a quote to put under it.*
"Joy to the World"


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by kama'aina mama_
*"Joy to the World"*
That's a good one. But honestly, these are probably people that wouldn't know what my kids were dressed in. :LOL I'd probably have to say something about different religions too. I probably won't do it anyway, but maybe just put a quote about religion in the card.


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## TiredX2 (Jan 7, 2002)

Quote:

Edit: If I wanted to go overboard I could have the card be a picture of my kids, each wearing clothing associated with different religions. I'd have to think of a quote to put under it.
Wow, that would be such a cool card. If you do it--- post the picture!


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by TiredX2_
*Wow, that would be such a cool card. If you do it--- post the picture!*
If someone can give me some ideas that are easy and cheap I will do it. I have no money to spend so I'll have to make the clothing with whatever I have at home. Any ideas?


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## CerridwenLorelei (Aug 28, 2002)

to the link I get ads instead : British Airways and AOL

Where's the stamp??? What have they done in the corner where it was??

I got this email awhile back too. My aunt's DD got a full military scholarship. So I get slammed with tons of stuff like this.
In my case it was simple though I am sure it won't work for you.

"Please cease and desist sending me anything Muslim hate related. Please remember that I married into a family that has ArabAmerican members and Muslim followers. I happen to be very fond of them. And if I want to know anything I have a reliable source I can ask."


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## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

I might have posted this idea here before, but here goes:

Dear FIL,

Thanks for alerting me to this terrible biased email that's making the rounds. It is pretty scary, isn't it, that such a thing could happen in US, where we value freedom of religion? Luckily, I think, most people here are like you and me and don't buy into this kind of prejudice. Unfortunately there's no way to write back to the original author of this email. But maybe we can show our opposition to his thinking by buying some of those Eid stamps? Just a thought.

See you at Thanksgiving,

Love,

adventuregirl


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by CerridwenLorelei_
*
Where's the stamp??? What have they done in the corner where it was??
*

http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/po...sp?OID=2689760


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## merpk (Dec 19, 2001)

So nobody is responding to my suggestion about the ISP's (Internet Service Providers).

Is there anybody here who knows enough about e-mail or the Internet or whatever to know if there's some way to get the ISP of the original e-mail?

These things must be traceable.

That would also be a response, possibly one with wider applicability and implications.

Anyone?


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by merpk_
*
Is there anybody here who knows enough about e-mail or the Internet or whatever to know if there's some way to get the ISP of the original e-mail?*
That would be impossible. This thing has been going around for a while and you have to back track through every person to find out who first sent it. Not going to happen.


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## Ms. Mom (Nov 18, 2001)

Amy, I'll ask my husband when he get's back from Amsterdam (I think tomorrow







) He should know for sure. What I understand is that there are ways to 'fool' the computer into thinking an email came from a different source (as is the case in many worm viruses). However, If I remember correctly my husband said "anything is tracable if you know how". He's a geek and most likely knows how.







:

However, I don't know what can be done. There are no laws broken with these letters. I wish there was something we could do to stop messages like this from being spread around.


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## Ms. Mom (Nov 18, 2001)

As I'm typing my reply an email comes in

Quote:

>SCAM
>IMPORTANT
>
>I hate those hoax e-mail warnings, but this one is important.
>
>Send this warning to everyone on your e-mail list.
>
>If a man comes to your front door and says he is conducting a survey and
>asks you to show him your boobs, do not show him your boobs.
>
>This is a scam; he only wants to see your boobs.
>
>I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid & cheap.
>
Bad Moderator going off topic, but I did think this was


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by Ms. Mom_
* What I understand is that there are ways to 'fool' the computer into thinking an email came from a different source (as is the case in many worm viruses). However, If I remember correctly my husband said "anything is tracable if you know how". He's a geek and most likely knows how.







:*
*
*
*
Right, that's very easy to do, but the headers tell where it came from. Still, it's impossible to trace all the way back to the original sender. You'd have to do a reverse spam asking everyone who it came from. :LOL*


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## Lucysmama (Apr 29, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by captain optimism_
*

Dear FIL,

Thanks for alerting me to this terrible biased email that's making the rounds. It is pretty scary, isn't it, that such a thing could happen in US, where we value freedom of religion? Luckily, I think, most people here are like you and me and don't buy into this kind of prejudice. Unfortunately there's no way to write back to the original author of this email. But maybe we can show our opposition to his thinking by buying some of those Eid stamps? Just a thought.

See you at Thanksgiving,

Love,

adventuregirl*

What a great idea! I love it!!!!!


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## adventuregirl (Nov 22, 2002)

captain optimism, I love the idea!

I don't know anything about tracing, but I think it would be difficult since its been around for so long.

Anyway, I'm working on it and will post when I have the finished product, my time is limited and the longer I wait, the easier it is to present it in a "nicer" way.


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## PaganScribe (Feb 14, 2003)

but I was just coming in here to post about this email being sent from a coworker to our entire staff -- and I work at a public school. So much for celebrating diversity among our students, huh?

I wrote back a pretty curt response, and replied to all. Several others in my builiding did as well. The best one I saw was very curt, but quite to the point:

"Disguising religious bigotry as patriotism is inexcusable and pathetic. If you must forward, please send only to people you _know_ share your ignorance and small-minded views, and spare the rest of us."


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## AnnMarie (May 21, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by PaganScribe_
*
"Disguising religious bigotry as patriotism is inexcusable and pathetic. If you must forward, please send only to people you know share your ignorance and small-minded views, and spare the rest of us."*


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