A Republican candidate for mayor in Oklahoma City is being decried by Muslim civil rights activists for making inflammatory comments about Islam.
As Truth Out reports, Oklahoma City mayoral candidate Carol Hefner said during a debate recently that she stood by her past social media rhetoric about the religion of Islam.
"Yes, it is a very negative culture," she said of Islam. "And it does things that are oppressive and I don't agree with that. Just like slavery, I don't agree with that. It's insipid, it should be eradicated from our culture, from our world."
Hefner acknowledged that Islam had been around for centuries and said that "I personally don't know how I'm going to get rid of it."
Dr. Imad Enchassi, the Senior Imam for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, was quick to denounce Hefner while also pointing out that Islam is a religion with over one billion adherents.
“She is talking about 1.9 billion Muslims. When she used the word ‘eradicated’ she is talking about eradicating 1.9 billion Muslims," he said.
Adam Soltani, the executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma, said that Hefner's remarks will have a "ripple effect" that will make it more acceptable for other candidates to make bigoted comments about Muslims.
"Anytime anyone in a position of power or influence says something negative against the Muslim community we always brace ourselves and get concerned about hate and violence that has historically targeted our community," he said.
Watch video of Hefner's comments below.
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