Election Message Offends Muslim Students At CU-Boulder

Apparently, letting the "terrorists" win is offensive:

The campaign message might have been intended as a joke: Don't let the terrorists win.

That punch line, though, is not resonating with many University of Colorado student-government hopefuls, one of whom is the president of the Muslim Student Association. He says it's racist.

A chalk-written campaign message written over the weekend outside the Williams Village dorms was supposed to support the "First Class" ticket, which is made up of four students running for representative seats.

Campaign insiders gave different versions of the message, but agreed that it said something to the effect of "If you're not voting First Class, terrorists win" or "If you're not voting classy, you're voting for terrorism."

Candidates on the First Class slate say they lost control of their message and disapprove of the content that one of their supporters took the liberty to write.

"It was extremely unfortunate and not something we wanted," said Chance Heath, a First Class candidate.

The chalk message, which has since been removed, was not meant to be a racist attack on an opposing candidate, said Heath, who is majoring in international affairs, with a focus on the Middle East. He spent three months over the summer studying Arabic in Morocco.

Instead, it was intended to mock the political campaigns, he said, that use the trite slogan: "Terrorists win if you vote for" a specific cause or candidate.

Whether an unfortunate extrapolation by a zealous supporter or a sophomoric attempt at humor, the usual suspects (no pun intended) were not amused and quickly produced the dreaded but ubiquitous "race" card.

Medhat Amed, a CU senior running on the Gold Ticket, an opposing slate, doesn't see it that way. He said he believes the message took direct aim at him.

"It's racist," he said. "It's offensive. It's unacceptable."

Amed said the Muslim student group that he leads on campus often holds informational and cultural events to counter the negative stereotypes lobbed against Islam. The campaign message is an example of the ignorance his group works so diligently against, he said.

Repeat after me: Islam is not a race.

Islam is a religion.

Not that that matters to the discerning diversity thug, offended that an off-hand play on political messages designed around the trope of "letting the terrorists win" must, MUST be referring to him.

Can you say, projection?