Excerpt:
A new Muslim-American group co-founded by metro Detroiters is launching a social media campaign Wednesday urging Arabs not to use Arabic racial slurs against African Americans.
Called "Drop the A-Word," the campaign asks Arab-Americans to stop using the words "abed" and "abeed," Arabic words that they sometimes use as slurs against black people in the way some might use the N-word. The group asks participants to use the hashtag — which allows Twitter users to read responses — #DropTheAWord.
"Abed" and its plural form "Abeed" mean a "slave" or "servant" in the Arabic language. In and of themselves, the words are not necessarily slurs; in fact, some Arabs have the name "Abed," which can mean a person who's a servant of God.