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South Asian Communities Under Suspicion And Attack
Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern, and Arab communities face an increasingly hostile climate in the US, according to a new report by an umbrella community organization.
In its report on ‘Under Suspicion, Under Attack,’ the minority rights group South Asian Americans Leading Together said that 78 instances of xenophobic political speech and 76 examples of hate violence that it documented between January 2011 and April 2014 suggested that these communities lived a climate of growing hostility in American society today.
Written by Sameera Haz and Suman Raghunathan, in consultation with Deepa Iyer, the report identifies the SAALT as, “A national nonpartisan non-profit organization that elevates the voices and perspectives of South Asian individuals and organizations to build a more just and inclusive society in the United States.”
Since the events of 9/11, South Asian communities have been associated into one group: targets – with hate crimes increasing significantly. Over 80 percent of cases of hate violence documented in the report – which documents over 150 incidents of hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric within the U.S. from Jan. 2011 to Apr. 2014- were motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment; while other faith communities are also targets of the severe violence caused by stereotyping those from South Asian countries. Take the case of Linda Sarsour, Senior Strategist for the 'Take on Hate' campaign and Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York. Just last week a man threatened to cut her head off, before calling her a derogatory name.
According to the report, through the Internet, media, xenophobic political speech and hate violence, there is an Islamophobia “industry” demonizing Muslims. This negative climate continues to develop through the profiling and surveillance by law enforcement agencies.
"Our communities have endured a sustained and even escalating backlash after 9/11, crystallized by hate violence. I myself was the victim of a hate violence attack just last week near my office in Brooklyn, NY. Enough is enough. That's why we started the 'Take on Hate' Campaign," said Linda Sarsour, Senior Strategist for the 'Take on Hate' campaign and Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York. "Take on Hate' uses education, media, and coalition building in an effort to challenge discrimination and bigotry and move us closer to a nation that upholds equality and dignity for all."
SAALT includes recommendations for the President of the United States, as well as Congress. It urges these political entities to change their current framework, ensuring, “That freedom and equality are truly realized and indeed preserved for all communities in the U.S.” Just recommendations: with increasing violent attacks on the South Asian communities, it is crucial others take notice to end the discrimination.
The SAALT report also targeted the DOJ’s 2003 Guidance on the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement, arguing that it was critical to prohibit profiling based on categories of national origin and religion, and to end “suspicion-less and discriminatory surveillance” of the minority communities by law enforcement agencies and investigate law enforcement for discriminatory practices.
To read the complete report click here.
Feature image courtesy of assets
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