Racial-profiling Same for US African-Americans, Muslims - Rights Group

posted on: Aug 26, 2014

Muslim Americans endure similar racial profiling to African-Americans in Ferguson, the suburb that was struck by protests over the police killing of an unarmed African-American teen, campaigner Dawud Walid told RIA Novosti.
“Profiling in post-9/11 America of Arab-Americans and South-Asian Americans cannot be dealt with in a silo separate from the profiling and misconduct that is done towards African-Americans by law enforcement officers,” said Walid, a director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The St. Louis branch of CAIR has called for a full investigation into the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, 18, and stated the Muslim Americans face similar police harassment as blacks in trouble-struck Ferguson and across the United States.
“It’s important for Arab Americans and South Asian Americans to show solidarity with black Americans about the racial profiling that we all experience at the hands of law enforcement officers – irrespective of them being Christian or Muslim,” Walid told RIA Novosti.
Ferguson, a predominantly African-American suburb of St. Louis of some 21,000 residents, has been shaken by often violent protests since the police killing of Brown, an unarmed teen, as he walked with a friend on a residential street on the afternoon of August 9.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon withdrew National Guard troops on Thursday as protests calmed in recent nights. Police have been criticized for using military tactics, toting assault rifles and using tear gas, rubber bullets and other heavy-handed measures.

Ria Novosti