Several community organisations, including a South Asian coalition, have launched a signature drive to press lawmakers to ask the FBI to track hate crimes against Sikh, Hindu, and Arab Americans.
While the FBI has various categories to track hate crimes, crimes directed at these three communities are not currently tracked, according to the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). ‘It is crucial that they are added to the tracking form in order to address this problem and keep all communities safe,’ it said urging community members to ask lawmakers representing their area to sign-on a letter circulating in Congress. Long before 11 Sep, 2001, South Asians have endured bias, discrimination, and hate violence, SAALT said. ‘Unfortunately, following the 11 Sep attacks, these crimes escalated particularly against Sikh, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Americans in many facets of life,’ it said noting SAALT identified 645 incidents of bias in these communities within just one week of 9/11. ‘Sadly, these attacks continue to be an ongoing problem in our community and effectively addressing them has become increasingly difficult,’ SAALT said.
While the FBI has various categories to track hate crimes, crimes directed at these three communities are not currently tracked, according to the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). ‘It is crucial that they are added to the tracking form in order to address this problem and keep all communities safe,’ it said urging community members to ask lawmakers representing their area to sign-on a letter circulating in Congress. Long before 11 Sep, 2001, South Asians have endured bias, discrimination, and hate violence, SAALT said. ‘Unfortunately, following the 11 Sep attacks, these crimes escalated particularly against Sikh, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Americans in many facets of life,’ it said noting SAALT identified 645 incidents of bias in these communities within just one week of 9/11. ‘Sadly, these attacks continue to be an ongoing problem in our community and effectively addressing them has become increasingly difficult,’ SAALT said.