NEW YORK: South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a national, non-profit, non-partisan organization, released a new report last week, entitled, Community Resilience that provides a picture of the landscape in which South Asians found themselves on September 11th and the ensuing months and years.
The report released on the ten year anniversary of the hate crime that killed Balbir Singh Sodhi, looks back at the past decade and suggests recommendations on moving forward. It includes testimonials from South Asians who experienced loss as a result of the September 11th tragedy as well as examples of best practices around community collaborations.
The report, complemented with pictures and stories, addresses various aspects of the experiences of South Asians over the past ten years. These include stories of loss on September 11; backlash suffered by South Asian communities living in the US; bias-based bullying at schools; workplace discrimination; racial and religious profiling; and, Islamophobia and attacks on faith.
The report ends with recommendations for stakeholders to ensure the fundamental American ideals of diversity, inclusion and equality.
In the face of these challenges, the report also presents the stories of success, resistance and resilience of individuals, organizations and communities.
“Over the past decade, South Asian, Muslim, Sikh and Arab, Muslim, Sikh and Arab American organizations have been instrumental in developing resources, creating safe spaces for those affected by post 9/11 backlash, shifting the public conversation, and advocating with government agencies and policymakers. As we look ahead, we must continue to build strong partnerships to create an America that belongs to all of us,” said SAALT’s Executive Director, Deepa Iyer.
According to the report: “As South Asians were mourning the loss of fellow Americans in the attacks, we began to experience a compounded sense of grief as reports of backlash, hate crimes, and discrimination began to emerge. Many South Asian, especially those of Sikh and Muslim faiths, endured bigotry and harassment at workplaces, schools, and at airports.
Still others became ensnared in never-ending government investigations that scrutinized their personal and professional lives for any traces of terrorist activity or affiliations. It is still unclear how many South Asians were detained and deported over the past decade in connection to immigration and national security investigations. Unfortunately, the impact of the post-September 11th backlash continues today as a wave of Islamophobia and xenophobia manifests in the form of opposition to the construction of mosques, racist rhetoric in political discourse, the spread of anti-Sharia laws and anti-immigrant sentiment.”
In fighting for school safety, according to the report, youth have played an important role: “The Japanese American Citizens League and the Council of American Islamic Relations established a join program, Bridging Communities, with Muslim and Japanese-American youth. These students embarked upon a pilgrimage to the Manzanar Concentration Camp Site and other locations where Japanese-Americans had been interned during World War II. Commonalities between Japanese-Americans and Muslims, in terms of how both groups have been treated as outsides within their own home, served as a nexus to build solidarity and create a shared community.”
For addressing workplace discrimination, the report says: “The South Asian community, in collaboration with a diverse array of minority and faith communities, has also made strides in molding policy that would protect all Americans against employment discrimination. In August 2011, the New York City Council enacted legislation that would permit employers to deny religious accommodations only if they could prove it would cause significant difficulty or expense.”
The report also addresses advances made in immigration policies: “Mobilization and advocacy occurred alongside Latino communities suffering from increased border enforcement and immigration raids since September 11th. The local and national efforts undertaken by community members and organizations have borne some fruit over the past ten years. In April 2011, after over eight years of mobilizations and advocacy DHS [Department of Homeland Security] modified the special registration so that individuals from the 25 [predominantly Muslim] countries were no longer subject to its requirements [of males to register with the government].”
In response to the rise in Islamophobia and intolerance, the report points to inter-faith collaborations and community efforts: “As an affirmation of tolerance and inclusion, individuals practicing various faiths and representing diverse backgrounds have stood up against this riding tide of Islamophobia. After the Al Farooq Mosque in Nashville was vandalized with graffiti saying “Muslims – Go Home”, local community members and organizations… got law enforcement to investigate the incident… An interfaith response was set into motion, including joint cleanup of the graffiti and a panel discussion at the center.”
India Post News Service
