[News] Why Is America Ignoring The Murder Of Three Young Sudanese-Americans?
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Thu Mar 3 11:37:06 EST 2016
*http://www.okayafrica.com/news/our-three-brothers/*
#OurThreeBrothers: Why Is America Ignoring The Murder Of Three Young
Sudanese-Americans?
Jaimee A. Swift March 2, 2016
The violent murders of three young African men last Wednesday in Fort
Wayne, Indiana have prompted accusations from family members that both
national media outlets and American Muslim organizations are ignoring
the murders because of the victims’ origins.
“They are not promoting it as much because they were of African
descent,” *Ibrahim Dahab*, a cousin to two of the victims tells
/Okayafrica/.
The three victims, members of a predominantly Muslim community from
Africa’s eastern Sahel region, were found with multiple gunshot wounds.
23-year-old *Mohamedtaha Omar*, 20-year old *Adam Mekki* and 17-year-old
*Muhannad Tairab* were shot “execution-style”
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/muslim-american-men-murders-barely-ripple-160228003914813.html>
inside a building which police dubbed as a “party house.” Although the
house was under surveillance by police for gang and violent crimes, Fort
Wayne Police Chief *Garry Hamilton* ruled that the victims were not a
part of any gang affiliations. Two of the young men’s funerals were held
over the weekend.
“There is definitely a reason why my cousins and friend are not getting
as much media coverage, and it is because they were black,” Dahab says,
in an exclusive interview. “There is discrimination in the Islamic
community on who is really a legitimate Muslim and there is a belief
that if you are not from the Middle East, you are not as Islamic as
someone from Saudi Arabia for example,” he continues.
According to The Washington Post
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/28/the-mysterious-execution-style-murders-of-three-young-muslims-in-indiana/>,
the city’s public safety director told investigators they do not believe
that the triple-murders were motivated by the victims’ religious beliefs
or are that of a hate crime. Indiana Governor *Mike Pence* has yet to
make any comment
<https://www.colorlines.com/articles/indiana-governor-silent-police-rule-out-hate-crime-execution-style-killing-three-african>
on the murders.
Hundreds have flocked to social media to address the lack of media
coverage on the death of the young men. While reports emerged that all
the victims were Muslim, *Motasim Adam*, the founder and president of
*Darfur People’s Association*, told the Associated Press
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FORT_WAYNE_DEATHS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>
that Omar and Tairab were Muslim and Mekki was Christian. Outraged by
the lack of transparency on their deaths, people took to Twitter using
the hashtags *#OurThreeBoys* and *#OurThreeBrothers*, interchangeably.
Now, the hashtag that is being used is #OurThreeBrothers.
The hashtags are a take on *#OurThreeWinners
<http://ourthreewinners.org/>* — a campaign that led after the tragic
shooting deaths of three Muslim students, *Deah Shaddy Barakat*, *Yusor
Muhammad Abu-Salha*, and *Razan Muhammad Abu-Salh* in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina last year. In February 2015, *Craig Hick* shot the three
students
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/fivepoints/craig-stephen-hicks-guns-anti-theism>
after supposedly a long-running dispute about parking, but his Facebook
posts
<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/chapel-hill-shooting-craig-stephen-hicks-condemned-all-religions-on-facebook-prior-to-muslim-mass-10038126.html>
on the condemnation of religion suggested otherwise.
Thousands used the #OurThreeWinners hashtag all over the world to call
out the heavy anti-Muslim and Islamophobic sentiments looming in America
and beyond. However, with the recent case in Indiana, many are
questioning why both Muslims and the media are not rallying behind the
tragic shootings of Omar, Mekki and Tairab, just as they did with the
unfortunate events at Chapel Hill.
According to the New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/us/02indiana.html>, the first
Darfurian families to come to Fort Wayne, Indiana was in the late 1990s;
by-passing the urban-city life for more of the rural atmosphere in hopes
to garner industrial jobs. However, since the Darfur genocide in western
Sudan — which started in early 2003 and is still ongoing — it has been
reported
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-abandonment-of-darfur/2015/05/15/ca744c46-f8f4-11e4-9030-b4732caefe81_story.html>
that several hundred thousands of Sudanese have died and that some 3
million have been internally displaced or are refugees. Fleeing from the
violence and seeking to start a new life, many Sudanese people came to
Fort Wayne, increasing the already sizeable Sudanese immigrant community
that resides there.
“We all came here to find peace and security…we’re from war zones,” said
*Abdelaziz Hassab*, who is a relative of Omar and Tarib, in an interview
with WANE-TV
<http://wane.com/2016/02/28/two-of-three-lewis-street-victims-laid-to-rest-seeking-justice/>.
While common misinterpretations
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/us/02indiana.html> of cultural values
and norms have persisted between the Sudanese community and other Fort
Wayne residents, for the most part, community relations have been fairly
peaceful — until the shooting deaths of Omar, Mekki and Tairab last
week. Vigils were held
<https://twitter.com/AfrixaAF/status/704471223225298945> for the
Sudanese men, with participants raising #BlackLivesMatter signs as a
means to show solidarity with the movement.
Speaking on how Omar, Tarib and Mekki were kind-hearted, pillars in the
Fort Wayne community, Dahab also highlighted how the murders of his
cousins and friend are unifying people all over the world.
“We all grew up together in Fort Wayne and they were big-brother figures
in the community,” Dahab said. “And it is not just the Fort Wayne
community that is rallying behind their deaths. At their funerals, there
were people there from New York City, from Washington D.C., to Utah to
California. This issue has united many people all over the country.”
“It is a unifying issue and it is opening people’s minds on what is
really going on with our youth,” he said.
Calling for a comprehensive police investigation and concrete answers
about their deaths, many took to Twitter to commemorate their legacies
and call to actions for the Fort Wayne police to bring full transparency
on the murders. A Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/our3boys?pnref=story> page was created to
honor and remember the three young men. An online petition
<http://act.mpowerchange.org/sign/justice-ourthreeboys/> also came about
to demand for justice and accountability.
Check out more tweets on #OurThreeBoys and #OurThreeBrothers below:
Demand accountability & Justice for Ahmed Mekki, Muhannad Tairab,
Mohamed Taha Omar. #OurThreeBoys
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBoys?src=hash> #IndianaShooting
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndianaShooting?src=hash>
pic.twitter.com/vvowtr8TVS <https://t.co/vvowtr8TVS>
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) February 28, 2016
<https://twitter.com/lsarsour/status/703759436255502338>
Why didn’t the killing of the 3 Sudanese American boys urged the
same outrage as the Chapel Hill shootings?!! #OurThreeBoys
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBoys?src=hash> — Nad!aa
(@Nadiaalie) February 28, 2016
<https://twitter.com/Nadiaalie/status/703743103513993216>
Shots from todays vigil remembering the three Sudani
boys.#BlackMuslimsMatter
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackMuslimsMatter?src=hash>#OurThreeBrothers
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBrothers?src=hash>
pic.twitter.com/5pUhMEttek <https://t.co/5pUhMEttek>
— Different Somali™ (@AfrixaAF) March 1, 2016
<https://twitter.com/AfrixaAF/status/704471223225298945>
Muslim-American men’s murders barely cause a ripple
https://t.co/zjJFK93zzE #OurThreeBoys
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBoys?src=hash> — Johnetta Elzie
(@Nettaaaaaaaa) February 28, 2016
<https://twitter.com/Nettaaaaaaaa/status/703976298402611200>
Black Muslim males are easily stereotyped as “former thugs turned
converts” as if Islam wasnt instilled in us since birth.
#OurThreeBrothers
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBrothers?src=hash>
— Mohamed (@FreshcutMo) February 29, 2016
<https://twitter.com/FreshcutMo/status/704293745571844096>
This is just sickening. The fact that I wouldn’t have learned about
this if it wasn’t for Twitter #OurThreeBoys
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBoys?src=hash> — Jay
(@Gresham_Major) February 28, 2016
<https://twitter.com/Gresham_Major/status/703747259440242688>
Muslims are only newsworthy when villains. Not victims.
RIP. #OurThreeBoys
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBoys?src=hash>
#BlackLivesMatter
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash>
pic.twitter.com/gASTZVW1GM <https://t.co/gASTZVW1GM>
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) February 28, 2016
<https://twitter.com/KhaledBeydoun/status/703773265060356097>
Disgusted. Not only by what happened, but by how little we are
talking about this. #OurThreeBoys
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OurThreeBoys?src=hash>
#BlackLivesMatter
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash>
pic.twitter.com/f9mlyzfa56 <https://t.co/f9mlyzfa56> — Hana Khalil
(@hkhalil91) February 28, 2016
<https://twitter.com/hkhalil91/status/704023279787446273>
/Jaimee Swift is a journalist, activist and is obsessed with
Pan-Africanism and the African Diaspora. You can follow her on Twitter
@JaimeeSwift <https://twitter.com/jaimeeswift>./
--
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20160303/0a48b1f3/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list