A new campaign for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is attracting a lot of attention as of late, and for good reason. By hanging huge posters in New York's Times Square and Washington, D.C., ACLU aims to remind people of their fundamental rights as outlined by the U.S. Constitution.
The posters of the First Amendment were made in three different languages - Arabic, Spanish and English - and their purpose is to raise awareness on people's right to freedom of speech, regardless of where a person is from or what language he/she speaks. But, that's not all, the First Amendment also protects the right to practice one's religion without being discriminated against.
The campaign is the latest in a string of many others fighting the xenophobic and Islamophobic rhetoric of U.S. President Donald Trump.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances," the First Amendment says.
ACLU put up these words on billboards and bus shelters in New York's Times Square and Washington D.C.
"Because we now have a president that openly disdains such freedoms, it seemed like a good time to point out the 'We the People' means everyone," Stacy Sullivan, ACLU communications staffer, wrote.
"Trump came to power on a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, and it was particularly bad when it came to Muslims," she told The Huffington Post.
"We thought this would be a good time to remind the public ― and Trump ― that the First Amendment applies to Muslims and Latinos, and everyone else in this country, too," Sullivan added.
It's not the first time the Arabic language was used to make a political statement against Trump.
In 2016, a billboard on a highway near Dearborn, Michigan mocked the then-presidential candidate. Using Arabic, the billboard addressed Trump, saying:
"Donald Trump, he can’t read this, but he is scared of it anyway."
The location was chosen because of the large Arab-American population in the area.
Michigan is home to the second largest Arab-American population in the United States, and the largest mosque in North America is located in Dearborn.
Commenting on the billboard, Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told Detroit News:
"It is stating a feeling ... that Donald Trump has been a fear-monger about communities he really doesn’t know. What I’ve been hearing on the streets of Detroit and Dearborn ... I have not spoken to a person yet that they’re going to vote for (Trump) in this upcoming election.
The general statements are he’s just a racist bigot and not just against people of the Islamic faith, but he made comments against Latinos and women."