DOCSLIB.ORG

WE ARE NOT the ENEMY” Hate Crimes Against Arabs, Muslims, and Those Perceived to Be Arab Or Muslim After September 11

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
WE ARE NOT the ENEMY” Hate Crimes Against Arabs, Muslims, and Those Perceived to Be Arab Or Muslim After September 11 UNITED STATES 350 Fifth Ave 34 th Floor New York, N.Y. 10118-3299 http://www.hrw.org (212) 290-4700 Vol. 14, No. 6 (G) – November 2002 Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior. -- George W. Bush I stand for America all the way! I’m an American. Go ahead. Arrest me and let those terrorists run wild! -- Frank Roque, after being arrested for the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi Members of the Arab-American community in Detroit, Michigan participate in a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the September 11 attack victims. September 19, 2001. © 2001 Agence France Presse “WE ARE NOT THE ENEMY” Hate Crimes Against Arabs, Muslims, and Those Perceived to be Arab or Muslim after September 11 1630 Connecticut Ave, N.W., Suite 500 2nd Floor, 2-12 Pentonville Road 15 Rue Van Campenhout Washington, DC 20009 London N1 9HF, UK 1000 Brussels, Belgium TEL (202) 612-4321 TEL: (44 20) 7713 1995 TEL (32 2) 732-2009 FAX (202) 612-4333 FAX: (44 20) 7713 1800 FAX (32 2) 732-0471 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] UNITED STATES “WE ARE NOT THE ENEMY” Hate Crimes Against Arabs, Muslims, and Those Perceived to be Arab or Muslim after September 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................................................. 3 II. RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Policing ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Prosecution ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 Bias Crime Tracking ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Affected Community Outreach............................................................................................................................ 5 III. U.S. LAW AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS ........................................................... 5 Hate Crimes Legislation ....................................................................................................................................... 6 State and Local Agencies Responsible for Addressing Hate Crimes............................................................. 7 Federal Agencies Responsible for Addressing Hate Crimes........................................................................... 7 International Law................................................................................................................................................... 8 IV. A HISTORY OF BACKLASH ATTACKS AGAINST ARABS AND MUSLIMS IN AMERICA................... 11 Middle East Tensions in the 1970s and 1980s................................................................................................. 11 Persian Gulf War ................................................................................................................................................. 12 Oklahoma City Bombing and TWA Flight 800 .............................................................................................. 13 September 11: Expectations of Backlash Violence ........................................................................................ 14 V. THE SEPTEMBER 11 BACKLASH..................................................................................................................... 14 Murder................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Assaults ................................................................................................................................................................. 20 Place of Worship Attacks ................................................................................................................................... 22 Arson ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24 VI. FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL HATE CRIME PREVENTION EFFORTS BEFORE AND AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 ........................................................................................................................................................ 24 Public Condemnation.......................................................................................................................................... 24 Mixed Messages................................................................................................................................................ 27 Policing ................................................................................................................................................................. 27 Backlash Planning.............................................................................................................................................. 28 Police Deployment ............................................................................................................................................. 28 Initial Classification of Crimes........................................................................................................................... 29 Hate Crime Units and Institutional..................................................................................................................... 30 Support for Hate Crimes Training...................................................................................................................... 30 Prosecution ........................................................................................................................................................... 30 Publicizing Prosecutions .................................................................................................................................... 31 Hate Crime Prosecutor Units.............................................................................................................................. 32 Crimes with Mixed Motives............................................................................................................................... 32 Affected Community Outreach.......................................................................................................................... 33 Relationship With Affected................................................................................................................................ 33 Communities Before September 11.................................................................................................................... 33 Outreach after September 11: Barriers to Trust.................................................................................................. 34 Cultural Competency.......................................................................................................................................... 34 Language Barriers .............................................................................................................................................. 35 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH NOVEMBER 2002 VOL. 14, NO. 6 (G) Community Liaisons .......................................................................................................................................... 35 Creation of Hotlines on Hate Crimes ................................................................................................................. 36 Bias Crime Tracking ........................................................................................................................................... 37 Federal Hate Crime Statistics............................................................................................................................. 37 City and State Hate Crime Tracking .................................................................................................................. 38 APPENDIX................................................................................................................................................................. 40 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH NOVEMBER 2002 VOL. 14, NO. 6 (G) I. SUMMARY question over five thousand young Middle East- ern men, and the decision to fingerprint visitors from certain Middle Eastern and Muslim coun- In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 ter- triesreinforced a public perception that Arab rorist attacks, Arabs and Muslims in the United and Muslim communities as a whole were sus- States, and those perceived to be Arab or Mus- pect and linked to the “enemy” in the U.S. war lim, such as Sikhs and South Asians, became against terrorism. victims of a severe wave of backlash violence. The hate crimes included murder, beatings, ar- In this report, Human Rights Watch docu- son, attacks on mosques, shootings, vehicular ments the nature of the September 11 backlash assaults and verbal threats. This violence was violence and the local, state, and federal gov- directed at people solely because
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Power Seeking and Backlash Against Female Politicians
    Article Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin The Price of Power: Power Seeking and 36(7) 923 –936 © 2010 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc Backlash Against Female Politicians Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0146167210371949 http://pspb.sagepub.com Tyler G. Okimoto1 and Victoria L. Brescoll1 Abstract Two experimental studies examined the effect of power-seeking intentions on backlash toward women in political office. It was hypothesized that a female politician’s career progress may be hindered by the belief that she seeks power, as this desire may violate prescribed communal expectations for women and thereby elicit interpersonal penalties. Results suggested that voting preferences for female candidates were negatively influenced by her power-seeking intentions (actual or perceived) but that preferences for male candidates were unaffected by power-seeking intentions. These differential reactions were partly explained by the perceived lack of communality implied by women’s power-seeking intentions, resulting in lower perceived competence and feelings of moral outrage. The presence of moral-emotional reactions suggests that backlash arises from the violation of communal prescriptions rather than normative deviations more generally. These findings illuminate one potential source of gender bias in politics. Keywords gender stereotypes, backlash, power, politics, intention, moral outrage Received June 5, 2009; revision accepted December 2, 2009 Many voters see Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as coldly politicians and that these penalties may be reflected in voting ambitious, a perception that could ultimately doom her presi- preferences. dential campaign. Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times, 2007 Power-Relevant Stereotypes Power seeking may be incongruent with traditional female In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was elected to the Montana seat in gender stereotypes but not male gender stereotypes for a the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Frontlash/Backlash: the Crisis of Solidarity and the Threat to Civil Institutions
    Ó American Sociological Association 2018 DOI: 10.1177/0094306118815497 http://cs.sagepub.com FEATURED ESSAY Frontlash/Backlash: The Crisis of Solidarity and the Threat to Civil Institutions JEFFREY C. ALEXANDER Yale University [email protected] It is fear and loathing time for the left, sociol- The first thing to recognize is that ogists prominently among them. Loathing Trumpism and the alt-right are nothing for President Trump, champion of the alt- new, not here, not anywhere where right forces that, marginalized for decades, civil spheres have been simultaneously are bringing bigotry, patriarchy, nativism, and enabled and constrained. The depredations nationalism back into a visible place in the of Trumpism are not unique, first-time-in- American civil sphere. Fear that these threaten- American-history things. What they con- ing forces may succeed, that democracy will be stitute, instead, are backlash movements destroyed, and that the egalitarian achieve- (Alexander 2013). ments of the last five decades will be lost. Fem- Sociologists have had a bad habit of think- inism, anti-racism, multiculturalism, sexual cit- ing of social change as linear, a secular trend izenship, ecology, and internationalism—all that is broadly progressive, rooted in the these precarious achievements have come enlightening habits of modernity, education, under vicious, persistent attack. economic expansion, and the shared social Fear and loathing can be productive when interests of humankind (Marshall 1965; they are unleashed inside the culture and Parsons 1967; Habermas [1984, 1987] 1981; social structures of a civil sphere that remains Giddens 1990). From such a perspective, con- vigorous and a vital center (Schlesinger 1949; servative movements appear as deviations, Alexander 2016; Kivisto 2019) that, even if reflecting anomie and isolation (Putnam fragile, continues to hold.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report
    2016 ANNUAL REPORT Muslim Women for ALL Women 2 MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Assalaamu Alaikum (Peace Be Upon You), Dear Friends, Hind Jarrah, Ph.D. The year 2016 brought great accomplishments as well as difficult and sad times for TMWF. My prayers are that 2017 and the coming years bring peace, goodwill, and compassion to all. We continued to open our doors to all our brothers and sisters, from all faiths and communities, nationally as well as internationally. Victims of domestic violence (DV) with unique cultural and spiritual needs found an oasis of peace in our services and through our compassionate, dedicated, and committed counselors, case managers, and attorneys. Victims and their children moved out of the trauma and abyss of DV abuse, into a hope filled independ- ent state and triumphantly stood firm on their own two feet. Our Educational and Interfaith Outreach programs continued to build bridges of friendship and understanding. The Islamic Arts Revival Series 5th Annual Juried International Exhibition of Islamic Art was truly a success. We thank the amazing staff at the Irving Arts Center and the artists and speakers who participated. The Youth Leadership Development Program is needed now more than ever as it prepares the youth to become civically and socially engaged committed leaders of the future generation. Since the beginning of the TMWF Youth Leadership Development Program in 2007, over 500 youth have shown great leadership and participated in community service. We give a huge salute to TMWF’s generous, compassionate partner organizations, religious leaders and individuals who have put their faith in us.
    [Show full text]
  • September 11 Backlash Employment Discrimination
    September 11 Backlash Employment Discrimination by Bryan P. Cavanaugh1 Complaints of national origin-related employment discrimination have risen since September 11, 2001. The federal government is particularly concerned and has fostered an environment that employers should heed. It has sued employers around the country for September 11 backlash discrimination. Employers should forbid national origin discrimination, guard against it, and eradicate it as soon as they discover it. Otherwise, they could face expensive lawsuits. I. Introduction The events and images of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks affected everyone in the United States. The ghastly images of the attacks on our country by Muslim extremists are indelible in this country's collective memory. As President Bush addressed the nation on the night of September 11, 2001, he vowed, "None of us will ever forget this day."2 While September 11's precise effect upon the U.S. economy is unclear, it cannot be reasonably disputed that the attacks harmed it. Indeed, this country continues to feel the effects of the September 11 attacks. Naturally, the effects have reached the U.S. workplace. The attacks have affected the U.S. workforce as a whole and on a more personal level. Anecdotes abound of post-September 11 animosity and downright hatred of Arab-Americans and Muslims. This tension has increased allegations of unlawful employment discrimination throughout the U.S., including in Missouri. Since almost immediately after September 11, 2001, the federal government has expressed its heightened concern and special commitment to shed light on and to eradicate employment discrimination based on national origin.
    [Show full text]
  • A Cultural Analysis of a Physicist ''Trio'' Supporting the Backlash Against
    ARTICLE IN PRESS Global Environmental Change 18 (2008) 204–219 www.elsevier.com/locate/gloenvcha Experiences of modernity in the greenhouse: A cultural analysis of a physicist ‘‘trio’’ supporting the backlash against global warming Myanna Lahsenà Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Epaciais (INPE), Av. dos Astronautas, 1758, Sa˜o Jose´ dos Campos, SP 12227-010 Brazil Received 18 March 2007; received in revised form 5 October 2007; accepted 29 October 2007 Abstract This paper identifies cultural and historical dimensions that structure US climate science politics. It explores why a key subset of scientists—the physicist founders and leaders of the influential George C. Marshall Institute—chose to lend their scientific authority to this movement which continues to powerfully shape US climate policy. The paper suggests that these physicists joined the environmental backlash to stem changing tides in science and society, and to defend their preferred understandings of science, modernity, and of themselves as a physicist elite—understandings challenged by on-going transformations encapsulated by the widespread concern about human-induced climate change. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Anti-environmental movement; Human dimensions research; Climate change; Controversy; United States; George C. Marshall Institute 1. Introduction change itself, what he termed a ‘‘strong theory of culture.’’ Arguing that the essential role of science in our present age Human Dimensions Research in the area of global only can be fully understood through examination of environmental change tends to integrate a limited con- individuals’ relationships with each other and with ‘‘mean- ceptualization of culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Annualreport
    A nnualR eport 2007 Annual Report 2007 1 Vision Statement Our vision is to be the leading Mosque in the US in providing Islamic guidance and services to the community. Mission Statement The Mosque Foundation serves the spiritual, religious, and communal needs of area Muslims by means of nurturing their faith, upholding their values, and fostering the wellbeing of the community around us through worship, charity, education, outreach, and civic engagement. Annual Report 2007 3 President’s Remarks Dear Sisters and Brothers: Assalamu alaikum! On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Mosque Foundation, I humbly submit to you our Annual Report, asking for God’s acceptance and for your prayers, continuous support, and counsel. Serving a Mosque and its community is sacred work that is crucial to the success of our families and Islam in this area of the world. In a well known narration by Uthman Ibn Affan, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, said, “Whoever builds a mosque, desiring thereby Allah’s pleasure, Allah builds for him the like of it in paradise.” (B. 8: 65) Facilities Building a Mosque needs collective community participation, pooling of resources, financial sacrifices, and, more importantly, purity of sincerity and intentions. We are in the midst of our largest expansion, which will triple our capacity (from 17,000 to 42,000 square feet), provide us with two new prayer areas for our sisters, a new prayer area for men, three baby sitting areas, a reading room and library, lecture hall for educational programs and interfaith activities, new offices for the Imams, secretary, the executive committee, and counseling, a new kitchen, a new washing area for women and men, a board and meeting room, a welcoming lobby at the entrance, all within a beautiful structure that connects aesthetically to the original Mosque building and crowned by a symbolic minaret and three additional domes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mosque As a Political, Economic, and Social Institution 622 •Fi Present
    Syracuse University SURFACE Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects Projects Spring 5-1-2011 The Mosque as a Political, Economic, and Social Institution 622 – Present Hope Collins Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone Part of the Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Collins, Hope, "The Mosque as a Political, Economic, and Social Institution 622 – Present" (2011). Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects. 282. https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/282 This Honors Capstone Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Mosque as a Political, Economic, and Social Institution 622 – Present A Capstone Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Renée Crown University Honors Program at Syracuse University Hope Collins Candidate for B.A. Degree and Renée Crown University Honors May/2011 Honors Capstone Project in Middle Eastern Studies Capstone Project Advisor: __________________________ Dr. Hossein Bashiriyeh Honors Reader: _______________________________ Sarah Marusek Honors Director: __________________________________ James Spencer, Interim Director Date: ___________________________________________ Abstract Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the Communist “threat” that plagued the West throughout the latter half of the 20 th century all but disappeared and was replaced with the “threat” of Islam. Prior to 9/11 Islam was a largely misunderstood religion and, despite its emergence as a media sensation in the past decade or so, very little headway has been made to better understand it.
    [Show full text]
  • Power, Pain, Potential South Asian Americans at the Forefront of Growth and Hate in the 2016 Election Cycle Table of Contents
    About South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) is a national nonpartisan non-profit organization that fights for racial justice and advocates for the civil rights of all South Asians in the United States. Our ultimate vision is dignity and full inclusion for all. SAALT fulfills its mission through advocating for just and equitable public policies at the national and local level; strengthening grassroots South Asian organizations as catalysts for community change; and, informing and influencing the national dialogue on trends impacting our communities. SAALT is the coordinating entity for the National Coalition of South Asian Organizations (NCSO). Acknowledgements This report was written by Lakshmi Sridaran in consultation with Suman Raghunathan and Vivek Trivedi. Many thanks to Ami Gandhi and Swathi Shanmugasundaram for their research which serves as the basis for this report’s analysis. We would like to acknowledge the individuals, communities, and institutions that continue to fight each and every day to expose racism and protect our communities from hate violence. Thank you for your work to make our communities stronger and build our collective power. Finally, we would like to thank the Ford Foundation, Four Freedoms Fund, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Proteus Fund for their generous support. Design by Design Action Collective Icons from The Noun Project POWER, PAIN, POTENTIAL South Asian Americans at the Forefront of Growth and Hate in the 2016 Election Cycle Table of Contents Executive Summary . 3. Definitions, Methodology, Limitations . 5 Demographic Context of South Asian American Growth Nationwide . 7 South Asian Americans in the South ...........................................................8 The Growth of the Undocumented South Asian American Population .
    [Show full text]
  • “Smackdown”: a Textual Analysis of Class, Race and Gender in WWE Televised Professional Wrestling
    The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 5-2012 Ideological “Smackdown”: A Textual Analysis of Class, Race and Gender in WWE Televised Professional Wrestling Casey Brandon Hart University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Hart, Casey Brandon, "Ideological “Smackdown”: A Textual Analysis of Class, Race and Gender in WWE Televised Professional Wrestling" (2012). Dissertations. 550. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/550 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi IDEOLOGICAL “SMACKDOWN”: A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF CLASS, RACE AND GENDER IN WWE TELEVISED PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING by Casey Brandon Hart Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2012 ABSTRACT IDEOLOGICAL “SMACKDOWN”: A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF CLASS, RACE AND GENDER IN WWE TELEVISED PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING by Casey Brandon Hart May 2012 The focus of this study is an in-depth intertextual examination of how the WWE in 2010 and by extension contemporary professional wrestling in general represents a microcosm of modern cultural ideology. The study examines three major areas in which this occurs.
    [Show full text]
  • By Any Other Name: How, When, and Why the US Government Has Made
    By Any Other Name How, When, and Why the US Government Has Made Genocide Determinations By Todd F. Buchwald Adam Keith CONTENTS List of Acronyms ................................................................................. ix Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 Section 1 - Overview of US Practice and Process in Determining Whether Genocide Has Occurred ....................................................... 3 When Have Such Decisions Been Made? .................................. 3 The Nature of the Process ........................................................... 3 Cold War and Historical Cases .................................................... 5 Bosnia, Rwanda, and the 1990s ................................................... 7 Darfur and Thereafter .................................................................... 8 Section 2 - What Does the Word “Genocide” Actually Mean? ....... 10 Public Perceptions of the Word “Genocide” ........................... 10 A Legal Definition of the Word “Genocide” ............................. 10 Complications Presented by the Definition ...............................11 How Clear Must the Evidence Be in Order to Conclude that Genocide has Occurred? ................................................... 14 Section 3 - The Power and Importance of the Word “Genocide” .. 15 Genocide’s Unique Status .......................................................... 15 A Different Perspective ..............................................................
    [Show full text]
  • WWE: Redefining Orking-Classw Womanhood Through Commodified Eminismf
    Wright State University CORE Scholar The University Honors Program Academic Affairs 4-24-2018 WWE: Redefining orking-ClassW Womanhood through Commodified eminismF Janice M. Sikon Wright State University - Main Campus Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/honors Part of the Women's Studies Commons Repository Citation Sikon, J. M. (2018). WWE: Redefining orking-ClassW Womanhood through Commodified Feminism. Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Affairs at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The University Honors Program by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WWE: Redefining Working-Class Womanhood 1 WWE: Redefining Working-Class Womanhood through Commodified Feminism Janice M. Sikon Wright State University WWE: Redefining Working-Class Womanhood 2 Introduction World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world (Bajaj & Banerjee, 2016). Their programs air in 20 languages in over 180 countries, and in the United States approximately 11 million people watch their programs each week (“FAQ,” n.d.). These programs include six hours of televised weekly events and 16 annual pay- per-view events (“WWE Reports,” 2017). In the first quarter of 2017 the company grossed $188.4 million (“WWE Reports,” 2017). They have close ties with the current presidential administration, as Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon was the CEO of the company from 1980 to 2009 (Reuters, 2009) and President Trump has made several appearances on WWE programming in the past (“Donald Trump,” n.d.).
    [Show full text]
  • Aryan Nations Deflates
    HATE GROUP MAP & LISTING INSIDE PUBLISHED BY SPRING 2016 // ISSUE 160 THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER PLUS: ARYAN NATIONS DEFLATES ‘SOVEREIGNS’ IN MONTANA EDITORIAL A Year of Living Dangerously BY MARK POTOK Anyone who read the newspapers last year knows that suicide and drug overdose deaths are way up, less edu- 2015 saw some horrific political violence. A white suprem- cated workers increasingly are finding it difficult to earn acist murdered nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C. a living, and income inequality is at near historic lev- Islamist radicals killed four U.S. Marines in Chattanooga, els. Of course, all that and more is true for most racial Tenn., and 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif. An anti- minorities, but the pressures on whites who have his- abortion extremist shot three people to torically been more privileged is fueling real fury. death at a Planned Parenthood clinic in It was in this milieu that the number of groups on Colorado Springs, Colo. the radical right grew last year, according to the latest But not many understand just how count by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The num- bad it really was. bers of hate and of antigovernment “Patriot” groups Here are some of the lesser-known were both up by about 14% over 2014, for a new total political cases that cropped up: A West of 1,890 groups. While most categories of hate groups Virginia man was arrested for allegedly declined, there were significant increases among Klan plotting to attack a courthouse and mur- groups, which were energized by the battle over the der first responders; a Missourian was Confederate battle flag, and racist black separatist accused of planning to murder police officers; a former groups, which grew largely because of highly publicized Congressional candidate in Tennessee allegedly conspired incidents of police shootings of black men.
    [Show full text]