(Image source: DoSomething.org)
A non-profit organization is offering a $3,000 scholarship for students who take selfies to show “solidarity” with illegal immigrants and Syrian refugees against online “hate speech.”
According to the DoSomething.org, “So much hate speech lives online in posts and comments about refugees and immigrants.” Therefore, the organization created a “Pride Over Prejudice” selfie campaign to “combat anti-immigrant hate speech online.”
The campaign encourages people to “Post a selfie online with where your family is ‘from,’” claiming, “It's a really positive way of showing solidarity with those facing increasing levels of discrimination.”
To be entered to win the $3,000 scholarship, students must post their selfies about where they’re “from” on Instagram with prewritten captions such as, “I'm showing solidarity with refugees and migrants experiencing discrimination by showing that [insert your country] should be a safe space for EVERYONE, regardless of where you're from. #PrideOverPrejudice.”
DoSomething.org claims, “In 2015 alone, anti-refugee and anti-immigration hate speech contributed to a 14% increase in the number of hate groups across the US.”
Although it is not the source cited on the DoSomething.org website, the 14 percent statistic comes from the Southern Poverty’s Law Center’s “Hate Map.”
The SPLC’s list of “Active Hate Groups in the United States in 2015” includes various organizations that take positions against illegal immigration, such as “Americans for Legal Immigration” and “National Coalition for Immigration Reform.”
DoSomething.org’s campaign conflates illegal immigration and legal immigration by not separating the issue of rhetoric against legal immigration from people speaking out against illegal immigration. Instead, DoSomething.org implies any negative position regarding immigration of any kind is a form of “hate speech.”
Rather than explaining the difference between legal immigration and the controversial, political issue of illegal immigration, DoSomething.org writes, “Most of us have immigrants in our family, friend, and community networks.”
In fact, some of the entries for the scholarship explicitly come out against deporting illegal immigrants rather than spreading a general message in support of immigration.
In their selfies, students are also encouraged to show their “pride” in where they came from and embrace their heritage in their selfies.
If the students don’t know where they’re “’from,’” DoSomething.org suggests, “rep your town, city, state, or a place you identify with and share in the solidarity!” because “Xenophobia hurts individuals, families and communities.”