CAIR Applauds ABC's Cancellation of 'Roseanne' Following Roseanne Barr's Islamophobic, Racist Tweet

Roseanne Barr (image via BBC)

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today applauded ABC's decision to cancel the "Roseanne" sitcom after the show's star Roseanne Barr posted a racist and Islamophobic tweet.

In a tweet posted Tuesday, Barr referred to Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, as a "child" of the "Muslim Brotherhood" and "Planet of the Apes."

⏩ SEE: ABC Cancels 'Roseanne' Following Roseanne Barr's Racist Tweet Targeting Obama Adviser 

"We welcome the swift and appropriate action taken by ABC and hope it sends a message that the promotion of hatred and bigotry will not be accepted by our nation's entertainment industry," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Ms. Barr has a First Amendment right to express her views, however Islamophobic or racist, but she does not have a constitutional right to a program on a national television network."

He noted that CAIR recently expressed appreciation for a "Roseanne" episode challenging Islamophobia. "Ms. Barr's tweet unfortunately does not express the inclusiveness and rejection of bigotry we saw in the episode on Islamophobia," said Awad.

⏩ ABC's 'Good Morning America' Quotes CAIR Director on 'Roseanne' Islamophobia Episode:

⏩ CAIR has reported an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.

The Washington-based organization's recently-released 2018 Civil Rights Report, "Targeted," showed a 17 percent increase in bias-motivated incidents against American Muslims from 2016 to 2017, and a 15 percent increase in the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes in that same time period.

CAIR’s 2018 civil rights report (image via CAIR)

⏩ New CAIR Report: Trump's Muslim Bans Increased Anti-Muslim Discrimination, Violence

Community members are being urged to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR's Civil Rights Department at 202-742-6420.

CAIR launched an app to share critical "know your rights" information and to simplify the process to report hate crimes and bias incidents. CAIR is urging American Muslims and members of other minority groups to download the app and utilize this resource to stay informed and empowered.

⏩ For a quick download of CAIR's civil rights app, click here

SOURCE: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

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