Hobby Lobby and the you people

Hobby Lobby, and the You People.

“You People” is the most disgusting phrase one uses to expresses his or her hate or ignorance towards other people. Grammatically, it is the goofiest usage of the phrase to call you people to a single man or a woman.

In 2005, someone accused a Jewish individual at the Dallas City Hall, as ‘you people’ – thanks for my outrage, not only Dallas Morning News published it in the letters, but others jumped in too to express their outrage.

Bad things happen because good people do nothing about it, if we even a molecule of Good in us,  we need to speak up and do something about it.

The African Americans, Jewish, Muslims, Hindus, Chinese, Hispanic, Arabs, and other people are used to these phrases. It’s humiliating. Same thing happens to a white person in an all Asian or African American neighborhoods, why he or she is here, and the stares that go with it, and it’s not a comfortable feeling.

The act of Hobby Lobby store was not acceptable in a civil society, “We don't cater to you people” was the response a Jewish person received when asked for Hanukkah trinkets. The TGIF restaurant employee relished feeding a piece of bacon to a Muslim woman, what will do you do, if you were served the ribs, and you learn that it was dog meat while eating?   We need to condemn this to prevent it from happening again.  We all want an America where none of us have to live in fear or apprehension of the other.

We should take one of the three actions; 1. Demand what you people means 2. Complain to the Supervisor and 3. Call the News Media. In the long run, education is the way to go. We, all of us are conditioned to believe what we see – and shamefully we judge the entire group of people for the actions of a few.  Cleaning begins with us.

Let me warn you with the reverse bias – you are dead wrong to think that it is the white people who mistreat the minorities, hell no; we all are equally guilty of it.  It’s the 1/10^th of 1% of the people in each group, be it religious, ethnic, racial or other who are intolerant and bigots, and you will find the same percentage of bigots in every group including yours, White, Black, Hispanics, Indians and others.

Now some of us can stop by at Hobby Lobby, and ask them if they have items to celebrate Hanukkah, Ramadan, Ramnvami or whatever festival that we can talk about.  Not that we expect them to have, but how they respond to it.  Would they respect me as a customer if I were Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Black or Hispanic.  If not, do I have the right to report to them, so they don’t mistreat others?

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on the topics of Pluralism, Coexistence, politics, interfaith, Islam and building a cohesive America, and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. details at www.MikeGhouse.net

USA Today - http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/04/hobby-lobby-jewish-bias-or-business-decision/2921069/

Maddow - http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/05/20831389-this-week-in-god?lite

Ghouse - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/10/hobby-lobby-and-you-people.html

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