Arabs Called Out on Racism

A Muslim group has launched a social media campaign urging Arabs not to use Arabic racial slurs against black people. The group, branded “Drop the A-Word,” calls on Arabs to stop using the words “abeed” and “abed” to describe Africans. In Arabic, these words translate as “slave” or “servant.”

Group member Majed Moughni said: “We should stop using "abeed" to describe or reference people of African descent. It’s being used in a racial sense, and that’s derogatory.” Supporters of the campaign took to social networking sites to show their support for the initiative using the hashtag #DropTheAword.

One Twitter user said: "Realize that when you preach against Islamophobia but you use racial slurs against black people you become a hypocrite #DropTheAWord"

While another simply added: "The a-word is for a-holes. #DropTheAWord."

We couldn't agree more.