Local and National Reports Document Sept. 11 Backlash

By Ji Hyun Lim
AsianWeek Staff Writer

More than a year after Sept. 11, two detailed reports have been released documenting hate crimes and government backlash as a response to the terrorist attacks which rocked the nation. Both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California and the international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) have called attention to the extraordinary change that has happened in the last year.

Behind the alarming statistics of hate crimes are real faces with real concerns about safety and civil rights. On Nov. 13, the ACLU released a report entitled, Caught in the Backlash: Stories from Northern California that documents the stories of 18 victims of hate crimes or racial profiling. In the same week, Amardeep Singh, author of the HRW report, We Are Not the Enemy, released an analysis of government responses to the hate crimes across the country.

On Nov. 13, the ACLU released a report entitled, Caught in the Backlash: Stories from Northern California.

The ACLU held a press conference in their San Francisco office on Mission Street that brought together progressive organizations such as the Council on American Islamic Relations of Northern California, Intergroup Clearinghouse, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the individuals profiled in the report, to unveil their findings.

According to the Caught in the Backlash report, hate crimes against “people of ‘other’ ethnicity or origin” in California rose 345.8 percent in 2001. In San Francisco, there were 59 reported hate crimes from Sept. 2001 to Sept. 2002. In Santa Clara County, there was a 2,500 percent increase of reported hate crimes from 2000 to 2001.

The report shows how the government has systematically condoned racial profiling by sanctioning strict laws like the USA Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act. According to the report, these laws resulted in the detention of 751 immigrants, most whom were deported. As many as 74 individuals were still in custody as of June 2002.

Caught in the Backlash reports that as many as 5,000 young men from the Middle East and South Asia who entered the country in the last two years were targeted for “voluntary” questioning in November 2001. Of these, Attorney General Ashcroft made three arrests for criminal activity unrelated to Sept. 11, 17 arrests for visa violations and no arrest for crimes related to terrorism. Despite these numbers, Ashcroft claimed that these “questionings” were successful.

Said Vivek Mittal, program coordinator for the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA): “As much as the government says ‘We abhor hate crimes,’ the laws they are passing reinforce the idea of hate crimes. There’s a lot of messages that reinforce the idea that immigrants and people of color are the enemy.”

Initiatives such as “Operation TIPS” encourage Americans to watch and inform on their neighbors. Such programs have resulted in an inundation of half a million calls by January 2002 — many of which resulted in false leads and wasted time and money.

Charlotte Wu tells her story about being accosted by UC police.

“I feel bitter and I still sensor what I say,” Wu stated at the press conference. “To this day, I am still unaware of how the campus police were able to overhear my conversation.”

Mittal points out that many South Asians face similar predicaments with law enforcement. He says that since Sept. 11, many people who appear to be of Middle Eastern descent carry around passports and immigration papers. As a result of the increased sensitivity to harassment, ASATA has resorted to offering resource cards that have important phone numbers of local agencies and law offices.

“That is a sign of living in fear,” Mittal said. “They’re doing what they have to do. People are definitely more aware that there are things happening that they should be aware of.”

Similarly, Amardeep Singh provides a detailed account of government response to hate crimes across the country in We Are Not the Enemy. The research, which began in May of this year, includes 80 interviews, 250 footnotes and a comprehensive evaluation of hate crime incidences in Dearborn, Mich., Phoenix, New York City, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles.

“We seek to document the scope and severity of hate crimes that occurred after 9-11 and evaluate how government did in reacting and dealing with the backlash violence,” Singh said.

He and his associates interviewed police, prosecutors, community groups, victims and civil rights agencies to assess how government dealt with the backlash and discovered that in all cities — except in Dearborn — law enforcement was “more reactive than proactive,” about addressing hate crimes.

In Dearborn, the police chief and the mayor had close ties with Muslim and Arab communities. On the day of the attacks, patrol cars were in close surveillance of areas “vulnerable to the backlash.” The mayor also appeared on television at 1 p.m. on the day of the attacks to warn those who might be victims of hate violence.

Said Singh: “City officials and the police chief were meeting with Arab and Muslim communities every month before 9-11 and discussed civil rights issues among other things. There was a pre-existing relationship so when 9-11 occurred, the police chief and mayor knew who to call and what their concerns were.”

We Are Not the Enemy outlined the existing relationship in Dearborn and recommended government officials use it as a model. With only two reports of violent hate crimes in Dearborn, Singh argues that such statistics are “astounding” in a community with 30,000 Arab Americans. He also points out that communities knew there was going to be a backlash and that e-mails circulated warning people of pending danger.

Said Singh: “Every time there is a terrorist event — Iran hostage crisis, Persian Gulf War, Oklahoma City bombing — it has caused anti-Arab and anti-Muslim violence. What happened was predictable.”

The report systematically provides recommendations for dealing with hate crimes and preventing potential violence in the future. Like Caught in the Backlash, We Are Not the Enemy attempts to provide recommendations for preventing hate crimes locally and nationally.

“The real thing I’m concerned about is whether [this research] will move cities and governments to try to change what’s going on through legislation, organizing and lobbying,” Mittal said. “It’s up to those who read the reports and actually work in a group of people and government to change that.”

Reach Ji Hyun Lim at jlim@asianweek.com.