McGregor’s religious attack on Nurmagomedov comes only weeks after the Christchurch mosque shootings, where 50 peoplewere murdered by a gunman who livestreamed the attack. The terrorist attack, which took place at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, directly targeted Muslims in their house of worship. While McGregor is by no means responsible or involved in any way in the attack, his twitter post — an insensitive attack on another fighter’s religion rooted in prejudice — normalizes such religious insults to millions of fans who follow him across his social media platforms.
“Using racism to “get a rematch” is vile. Especially after 50 Muslims were killed in New Zealand,” Professor Khaled A. Beydoun, a law professor and author of American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear, told BloodyElbow. “Conor has consistency wielded racism as a tactic to not only sell fights, but rile up his fan base and anger his opponents.” Professor Beydoun continued: “He did so against Brazilian Jose Aldo, and infamously called Floyd Mayweather “boy” during their over-the-top promotion. He also made both explicit and latent anti-Latino remarks against Nate Diaz in their two bouts, calling him a “gangster” to play on the conflation of Mexican identity and gang affiliation.
“But, we see Conor McGregor’s bigotry most brazen and unhinged with regard to Khabib Nurmagomedov, the pious and proud Muslim fighter. He ridiculed his Muslim practice and expression throughout their volatile fight promotion, and today, stoops to the lowest of lows by claiming that he’s married to a towel - an ugly gesture playing on the “towelhead” slur attributed to Muslim women that don the Hijab.”
Given McGregor’s influence and sheer global popularity, the fighter has a responsibility to ensure that his platform is not used as an outlet for racist or xenophobic attacks. Instead, at a time when New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has worn the hijab in a show of solidarity with Christchurch and the country’s Muslim community, McGregor has made the hijab the source of one of his jokes.
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/4/...ious-tension-fight-promotion-khabib-crime-mma
“Using racism to “get a rematch” is vile. Especially after 50 Muslims were killed in New Zealand,” Professor Khaled A. Beydoun, a law professor and author of American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear, told BloodyElbow. “Conor has consistency wielded racism as a tactic to not only sell fights, but rile up his fan base and anger his opponents.” Professor Beydoun continued: “He did so against Brazilian Jose Aldo, and infamously called Floyd Mayweather “boy” during their over-the-top promotion. He also made both explicit and latent anti-Latino remarks against Nate Diaz in their two bouts, calling him a “gangster” to play on the conflation of Mexican identity and gang affiliation.
“But, we see Conor McGregor’s bigotry most brazen and unhinged with regard to Khabib Nurmagomedov, the pious and proud Muslim fighter. He ridiculed his Muslim practice and expression throughout their volatile fight promotion, and today, stoops to the lowest of lows by claiming that he’s married to a towel - an ugly gesture playing on the “towelhead” slur attributed to Muslim women that don the Hijab.”
Given McGregor’s influence and sheer global popularity, the fighter has a responsibility to ensure that his platform is not used as an outlet for racist or xenophobic attacks. Instead, at a time when New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has worn the hijab in a show of solidarity with Christchurch and the country’s Muslim community, McGregor has made the hijab the source of one of his jokes.
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/4/...ious-tension-fight-promotion-khabib-crime-mma
