An ugly incident on Milwaukee’s south side where a 42-year-old Latino who is an American citizen had acid thrown in his face outside a local restaurant is the tragic but inevitable byproduct of relentless scapegoating and demonizing of immigrants by elected officials from the president on down, We Are Many-United Against Hate founder and president Masood Akhtar asserted.
“Immigrant bashing is being regularly employed for political gain. The vacuum of moral leadership at the highest levels of our government gives a license to hate and inspires ugly racist incidents and domestic terrorism by white supremacists,” Akhtar said. “It’s no accident that there has been a 20% increase in the number of hate groups in America just since 2014. Fifteen such groups are operating in Wisconsin. The president and other top U.S. officials have effectively granted a prejudice permit for such activity.”
A 61-year-old man was arrested in connection with the acid attack that police are investigating as a hate crime.
“This kind of criminal activity and the political behavior that encourages it is a stain on our country,” said Akhtar, a 35-year resident of the U.S. and longtime American citizen. “Openness to foreigners has been a defining characteristic of America and is essential to who we are as a nation. Immigration has always made our country stronger, it has never made us weaker. Diversity is our great strength, it is our competitive advantage over other countries.”
We Are Many – United Against Hate
We are a non-partisan, non-profit, state-wide organization of common people who are urban and rural, spiritual and secular, seeking equal protection for all, united against hate, bigotry and racism