The internet produced a lot of terrible things yesterday, but it totally made up for it with this gesture.
Arsalan Iftikjar, senior editor at the Islamic Monthly and founder of TheMuslimGuy.com, saw this groundbreaking GAP ad featuring Sikh actor and jewelry designer Waris Ahluwalia on a friend’s Facebook page. But the difference between the actual ad and the one posted on social media was the racist graffiti scribbled across the front.
Someone on the street had changed the caption from “Make Love” to “Make Bombs,” and the writer had also scrawled “Please stop driving TAXIS.”
PHOTO: On this GAP subway ad featuring a Sikh man…Vandals have written “Make Bombs” & “Please stop driving taxis” pic.twitter.com/yvw2vhfexW
— Arsalan Iftikhar™ (@TheMuslimGuy) November 25, 2013
Needless to say, Iftikhar was shocked.
“When I first saw my Facebook friend’s photo of this GAP subway advertisement defaced by vandals with racist messages, I wanted the world to see how millions of brown people are viewed in America today.”
His work paid off. GAP contacted him via Twitter to find the exact location of the vandalism.
@TheMuslimGuy Hi there. Thanks for informing us. Can you please follow & DM us? We’d like to know the location of this.
— Gap (@Gap) November 25, 2013
And their response? GAP changed their Twitter background to the Ahluwalia ad in a show of solidarity and support…so we all know it’s real.
But the internet wasn’t done yet. The most rewarding thing to come out of the speedy response to hate?
Too cute.
SOURCE: Huffington Post, Twitter | PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter, Facebook