A British veteran — who lost his leg while in Iraq — is speaking out online against Islamophobia.
Chris Herbert says he’s frustrated by people expecting him to be racist because he got “blown up.”
Since posting a message to Facebook Tuesday morning, his plea has been shared more than 100,000 times and made headlines around the world.
“Yes. A Muslim man blew me up, and I lost my leg,” Herbert acknowledges in the post.
However, Herbert added, that day a fellow British soldier who is Muslim lost his arm, the medic who helped him after the blast was Muslim, as was the surgeon who performed his life-saving surgery. A nurse and health-care assistant who helped him when he returned to the UK, along with others who have showed him and his family kindness and generosity since he lost his leg also happen to be Muslim.
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Herbert’s post comes at a time when racial tension is increasing as the migrant crisis in Europe shows no end and multiple deadly attacks, some perpetrated by radicalized Muslims, have taken lives on several continents.
Herbert said on his Facebook page that he wrote the message after an Islamophobic group tried to recruit him to be its “poster boy.”
“Contrary to that,” Herbert wrote, “A White Brit pushed my wheelchair away from a lift so he could use it first.”
“A White brit screamed at my Dad for parking in a disabled bay when I was in the services coming home.”
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Herbert is careful to point out that many people were a part of his recovery, and he doesn’t hate Caucasian British people. He just wants people to stop expecting him to “hate an entire race of men and women” due to the actions of a few.
“Don’t push your views on me,” Herbert wrote.
“Blaming all Muslims for the actions of groups like Daeshe and the Taliban, is like blaming all Christians for the actions of the KKK or Westboro Baptist Church. Get a grip of your lives, hug your family and get back to work.”
The Portsmouth, U.K., resident now works as a promotions and events manager, according to his Facebook profile.
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