ADC Submits Statement for the Record – Senate Hearing on Hate Crimes

posted on: Sep 19, 2012

This morning the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) submitted a Statement for the Record to the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. Later this afternoon the committee is scheduled to hold a groundbreaking hearing entitled “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism.” The hearing was called for after a surge in hate crime targeting minority communities, including a shooting at a Sikh Gurdwara in Wisconsin that killed six worshippers and injured dozens more.

The increase of violent extremism and hate crimes in the US directly and routinely affects Arab and Muslim Americans. In particular Arab and Muslim Americans have been targets of right-wing extremists and Islamophobes, notorious for the spreading of hate rhetoric aimed at demonizing the Arab and Muslim American communities.

The statement submitted by the nation’s largest Arab American civil rights organization stressed that, “ADC stands firmly against acts of hate. The increase in violent acts against marginalized communities showcases the abundance of work left to combat discrimination in the US. Whether the crime is committed because of a person’s religious belief, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability, it is our community’s responsibility to stand against the violence.”

Among those speaking will be representatives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), as well as a survivor of the Oak Creek shooting and two experts on hate crimes in the United States.

Community members in the local Washington, DC area are strongly encouraged to attend the hearing. It is of the utmost importance to show the community’s unity and strength. Please note that the hearing location has been changed. It will now take place at the Hart Senate Office Building, Room 216.

ADC also urges members outside the Washington, DC area to watch the hearing on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s website. <a href=”http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=rJqZMfW%2FSacQ190Kym8qTODJToG%2BZiaW”>Click to view the hearing live.</a>

For those using Twitter, use #antihate while live tweeting or referencing the hearing.