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Ethnic Communities Meet to Plan Actions on Common Issues

Posted on Tuesday December 31, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Arab American Institute and the Sikh Coalition co-hosted a meeting with local immigration and human rights groups to plan a town hall meeting designed to raise awareness of civil rights issues that will impact immigrants and citizens in the United States.

Representatives from more than one dozen groups attended the roundtable meeting and agreed to organize an event to present issues of concern following September 11th and the continued “war on terrorism.” The town hall will present personal stories from those who have been a victim of hate crimes, airport profiling, and other forms of discrimination.

“We hope to personalize what happened in these communities and provide a channel for elected officials to see the effect of their policies,” said Norinder Singh director of the Sikh Coalition.

“By joining together we will strengthen the immigrant community and fight anti-immigrant sentiment. We want to make sure the war on terrorism isn’t a war on ethnic Americans. Close to a third of Americans are represented by our collective groups. We, as Americans, define patriotism, not John Ashcroft,” said Jean AbiNader, AAI managing director.

Groups in attendance included: National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (NCAPACD), Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAFC), Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA), Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), Solidarity USA, Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART), Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC), Islamic Institute, Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), National Council of La Raza, Sikh Coalition, National Immigration Forum (NIF), People for the American Way (PFAW), Korean American Coalition (KAC), Human Rights Watch, and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

For more information or if your organization is interested in participating in this program contact Jean AbiNader, AAI managing director, at 202-429-9210.