Racism & South Asian Americans: Second Try

[Laurel]

Constructive comments only, please - anything else can be posted to the old thread. Thanks - Laurel

I hope you and your love ones are well. It is has been an unbelievable day and a very somber night. I am compelled to let you all be aware of several incidents of race based intolerance directed against South Asians which have unfortunately been inspired by the events of the last twelve hours. As you all
have, at some point, dealt with APA hate crime issues
I felt a duty to let you know what I have been told.

I have been made aware of at least 2 specific
incidents - one in Washington and one in New York--
and I fear that these types of incidents will only
increase for the weeks to come.In the first instance
my cousin, a South Asian American (Sikh), was
one block away from the WTC in New York when it was
hit by the second plane (he was trying to get on the
PATH into New Jersey to get to work). As he was
running away from the explosion, a group of four men
pointed at him, called him a terrorist, and proceed to chase after
him. They chased him for four blocks, until he managed to evade them by ducking into a subway station. He was unharmed, but he is deeply shaken by the entire incident. The second incident occured in Washington, D.C., as a friend of mine, another
South Asian American (Sikh), was exiting work this afternoon. As he was leaving he was accosted by pedestrians on the street who began to yell verbal explitives at him, and threatened to "get" him and bomb him in retaliation for the terrorist acts earlier in the day. Although he was able to escape the crowd, he too was deeply upset by the incident.

Now, although neither of these acts of mob violence ended in injury, I fear such results may only be a matter of time. While
South Asian Americans (including Sikh Americans) are not Arab Muslims, in a classic case of mistaken identiy (and racist stereotyping) it is apparent that violence has been, and will likely
continue to be, directed upon South Asians and Arabs
living in the United States. As more ugly pictures of the disaster
are released (and Palestinian celebtrations and Osama bin
Laden that are shown on TV), I fear these acts will rise.

I send this email to you to give you a heads up warning, and to see if there is some way we can try and get media organizations and the government to call upon Americans to preserve the civil liberties of all Americans and to practice racial and religious tolerance during this national tragedy. We may be in a "war" against terrorism (and this may be our PearlHarbor), but that does not mean civil liberties must disappear and mob violence should be permitted to take hold. Korematsu was wrong when it was decided in 1942, and we must not let its racist history be repeated again-- to anyone.
> > > > >

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This was emailed to me today.


On a personal note, I know that there has a been a history of hard feelings between the Muslim community and the Non-Muslim world, please take into consideration that most people you meet on the street of Arab descent have little or no knowledge of the terrorist groups that the media speak of-what they know is what we know. I've been prepared for a backlash. I felt it during Desert Storm, as much as I child can. The looks, the whispers, the comments. Racism is a huge problem, do not let it stand in the way of our nation coming together in crisis. United we stand.

 

[dergar]

This is very true. We must remember our own humanity, and not pass judgement on ANYONE prematurly. Most ppl you meet on the street would never even wish harm on this country..i know many friends of arabic origin that love this nation more than many ppl born in this nation....we are all human...lets remember to keep our humanity, those to blame will see their day VERY SOON.

 

[CelestialBody]

The only other thing

 

[Debbie]

This is so sad. This terrible terrorist attack has caused the deaths of many, grief for thousands of families, destruction to New York city, the repercussions are now rippling through the world with people turning against each other. We cannot let the terrorists continue their terrible violence through racial attacks!