From The Daily Beast
by Arsalan Iftikhar
You would expect New York City—one of the nation’s most diverse cities, in which more than a third of its 8 million residents are born in a foreign country—to be a haven for tolerance. But, a recent incident of subway graffiti would indicate otherwise.
On Sunday, as I was monitoring my social media feeds, I noticed a striking photograph of a Gap Inc. subway clothing advertisement taken by a friend and NYC photographer,Robert Gerhardt, which he took on the “downtown platform on the 6 train at the Buhre Avenue stop in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx” in New York City just a few days prior.
The Gap subway clothing advertisement in question depicted a turbaned Indian Sikh-American, Waris Ahluwahlia, an actor and fashion designer, next to a female model with the caption “Make Love.” followed by the Gap logo.
Some racist idiots decided to scratch out “Make Love” and replace it with “Make Bombs.” Another genius decided to use a black Sharpie to write “Please stop driving taxis” under the advertisement’s caption, as well.
As a media commentator (and person of color) who regularly talks about issues related to race, ethnicity and identity issues on a daily basis, I could not sit on my hands and do nothing. So when I saw this GAP subway advertisement defaced by vandals with racist messages, I wanted the world to see how millions of brown people are viewed in American today.
