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New
York:
The Sikh Coalition, a community advocacy group, has launched a
video wall inviting website visitors to upload videos and written
accounts of backlash discrimination and violence in the post-9/11
environment.
Called Unheard Voices of 9/11 (www.unheardvoicesof911.org), the
initiative commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Sep 11, 2001
terror attacks.
One year after the 9/11 attacks, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) recorded a 1600 percent increase in the number
of reported hate crimes based on bias toward Muslims and those
perceived to be Muslim, the coalition said.
To this day, Sikhs continue to be targeted for hate crimes,
employment discrimination, and school bullying by ordinary
citizens, and profiling by law enforcement agencies, it alleged.
This discrimination occurs because the popular image of the Sikh
turban and beard being the face of a terrorist has hardened over
the past ten years, the coalition said.
"Members of the Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian American
communities were twice victims of 9/11," said Amardeep Singh,
programme director of the Sikh Coalition.
"Like all Americans we endured a horrific attack on our country by
terrorists. We also continue to endure backlash discrimination and
violence by our fellow Americans. The Unheard Voices project is
designed to ensure that our history is documented and that our
voices are not ignored."
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