(SAN DIEGO, CA 2/26/2020) – The San Diego office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SD) today denounced a series of Islamophobic and bigoted social media posts targeting Muslims, African Americans, immigrants, Latinos and people seeking government assistance.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the posts were made between 2016 and 2020 via Facebook by Dwight Flesher, a housing specialist with San Diego County’s Housing and Community Development Services Department. Among his posts were:
- An image of former first lady Michelle Obama with the caption “fluent in ghetto.”
- A photo of a truck with a bumper sticker stating, “Can’t feed ‘em Don’t breed ‘em. The government is not your baby’s daddy.”
- A shared post calling for April to be celebrated as Confederate History Month and imploring others to “Stand up for your heritage.”
On Feb. 25, the San Diego chapter of the NAACP called for an investigation by San Diego County Supervisors into Flesher’s cases.
In a statement, CAIR-SD Operations & Development Manager Omair Khan said:
“It is disgraceful that a government employee, tasked to serve the most marginalized of citizens, would post such hate-filled and xenophobic rhetoric on social media. We stand with the African American, Latino and immigrant communities in denouncing this type of bigoted speech. This hatred has no place in our society.
“We join with the with the San Diego branch of the NAACP in calling for an investigation into Mr. Flesher’s cases to ensure the people he was tasked to serve receive the full amount of assistance they were due. We also call on the San Diego County Supervisors to hold sensitivity trainings for their employees to ensure that situations like this do not repeat themselves. Californians of all backgrounds must stand together in the face of growing hatred and division in our state and nation.”
CAIR-SD is part of CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
CONTACT: CAIR-SD Operations & Development Manager Omair Khan, 619-880-4601, ext. 301 or okhan@cair.com