Four Members of Congress Promote Hate Against Muslims
From the Asian Law Caucus:
Groups Say Reps. Undermine Political Participation & Support a Backlash Against Muslims
SAN FRANCISCO – Over 20 national and local civil liberties organizations issued a rousing call today to four U.S. Representatives, Rep. Myrick (R-N.C.), Rep. Shadegg (R-Ariz), Rep. Broun (R-Ga) and Rep. Franks (R- Ariz), to retract their statements against the political participation of American Muslims and in promotion of the book, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America, for which Rep. Myrick wrote the introduction. The Asian Law Caucus, a San Francisco-based civil rights organization, spearheaded the effort after learning that the author of Muslim Mafia called for a “professional and legal backlash against Muslims.”
“When elected government officials extol hatred and challenge democracy, core American values are undermined,” said Veena Dubal, staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus. “The fact that these Representatives had the audacity to publicly challenge the political participation of American Muslims is reflective of the state of siege American Muslims currently live in. We must hold our elected representatives accountable to principles of equality and freedom, and remember that these values apply to all members of our nation.”
The Asian Law Caucus (ALC), American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), American Muslim Alliance (AMA), Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Equal Justice Society (EJW), Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Muslim Political Action Committee (MPAC), National Lawyers Guild- San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLG-SF), South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), the Sikh Coalition, and over a dozen other national and local organizations ask the Representatives to retract their comments concerning American Muslims and political participation.
Further, they invite the Representatives to enter a dialogue with American Muslims about their lives and realities over the past eight years, the persisting prevalence of violations of their civil rights, the numerous hate crimes perpetrated against them, and the constant public and private discrimination that they unfairly endure.
Summer Hararah, the National Security and Civil Rights Project Coordinator at the Asian Law Caucus, stated, “It is a sad day when elected representatives promote a bigoted witch hunt to intimidate Americans of the Islamic faith into silence and out of the political process. Our organizations believe this attempt to strong-arm obedience to political ideologies is a shameful abuse of power under the guise of national security. Fear-mongering employed with legal and governmental authority is reminiscent of McCarthyism, the internment of Japanese Americans and destruction of entire communities.”
For a copy of the letter filed today, click here.
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