The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States 2008

Without Fear of Discrimination
Courtesy of CAIR - Council of American Islamic Relations


For the 2007 calendar year, CAIR and its affiliate chapters processed a total of 2,652 civil rights complaints.

Incidents of anti-Muslim hate crime complaints went down by 19 percent. Alleged incidents at schools or involving the police decreased 31 percent and 42 percent respectively.

Discrimination in the workplace increased by 18 percent, with 384 cases reported in 2006 and 452 cases reported in 2007.

Marked decreases in cases involving due process issues (45 percent), physical violence (24 percent), denials of service or access (48 percent), and verbal harassment (35 percent) were recorded.


Passenger profiling reports jumped from 32 in 2006 to 141 in 2007, a 340 percent increase. There were also increases in reports of employment discrimination, a 34 percent increase, and denied religious accommodation, an eight percent increase.

Overall, nine states and the District of Columbia accounted for more than 80 percent of all incidents reported to CAIR in 2007. These include: California (21 percent), the District of Columbia4 (19 percent), Illinois (11 percent), Florida (7 percent), New York (7 percent), Virginia (4 percent), New Jersey (4 percent), Texas (3 percent), Pennsylvania (3 percent) and Maryland (2 percent).

Consistent with previous years, an individual’s ethnicity/religion or a “Muslim name” remained the primary factors that triggered discrimination. These two factors are believed to have triggered 63 percent of the total cases reported to CAIR during the 2007 calendar year.

From the above information, past experience and observations made during the 2007 calendar year, CAIR makes the following conclusions:

The decrease in reports of hate crimes and reports of discrimination by police and in schools during 2007 allows us to sound a note of cautious optimism.
The Muslim community now has well-established organizations to advocate on its behalf. These institutions serve both to educate fellow Americans about our faith and to educate fellow Muslims about effective methods for redressing grievances through political, media and social activism.
Some government agencies appear to be benefiting from an emphasis on cultural proficiency for employees who may deal with Muslims.
Click here to view the report.

Previous Years:
2007: Presumption of Guilt
2006: The Struggle for Equality
2005: Unequal Protection
2004: Unpatriotic Acts
2003: Guilt by Association
2002: Stereotypes and Civil Liberties
2001: Accommodating Diversity
1999: Expressions of Faith
1998: Patterns of Discrimination
1997: Unveiling Justice
1996: The Price of Ignorance

Hate Crimes

File a Complaint:

Courtesy of MPAC - Muslim Public Affairs Council

Why Report a Hate Crime/Incident?

For You. For Others.

JUSTICE: By reporting hate crimes, perpetrators can be punished, others will be deterred from engaging in hate-motivated behavior, and American principles and values will be protected.

PREVENTION: If crimes and incidents are not reported, perpetrators of these crimes and incidents will continue to pose threats to our society. Many hate incidents escalate into hate crimes, thus maintaining a paper trail can strengthen a case.

AWARENESS: Reporting hate acts will increase community awareness around bias-related offenses, which is necessary to foster a partnership against hate. Furthermore, a lack of response may be perceived as encouragement to commit additional acts.

DOCUMENTATION: It is critical to document hate acts accurately and consistently in order to ensure this component of history is recorded, the public is educated with precise cases that reveal the nature of the hate acts, and trends can be extracted from which community action can unfold and solutions be developed.

POLICY: To make policy changes and implement hate crime legislation, a significant number of hate crimes must be reported.


What is a Hate Crime?
A hate crime is any criminal act or attempted criminal act directed against a person(s) based on the victim's actual or perceived race, nationality, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

HATE CRIMES INCLUDE:

Any act which results in serious injury
Physical Assault, Major

Example: Pomona, CA. Monday, Sept 17, 2001
A Muslim-American woman in religious clothing was shopping at Albertson's when a Caucasian woman attacked her and yelled, "America is only for white people!" The victim was taken to emergency.


Any act which results in injury even if the injury is slight
Physical Assault, Minor

Example: Canoga Park, CA: October 2004
A group of Hispanic adolescents mocked an Afghani Muslim woman about her background. She was verbally assaulted with language like, "F*** you" and physically assaulted and slightly injured at her apartment complex.


Any threat of violence that may be able to be carried out
Threat of Violence

Example: Los Angeles, CA: September 4, 2003
A Bangladeshi taxi driver was threatened by a middle-aged male who yelled derogatory comments at him, including, "Get out of this country you f****** Arab, f****** Mohammad..." The perpetrator pulled up next to him, got out of his vehicle and threatened to physically harm the victim.


Commission of Arson
Mosque Arson

Example: A 2100 square-foot facility used as a mosque and burial preparation for Muslims throughout San Bernardino County was found burned to ashes at 4:30 AM. Two male teenagers were arrested for vandalizing the remains of the mosque and cemetery, and on suspicion of the arson.


Any act which results in property damage
Desecration of Religious Symbol

Example: A Malaysian Muslim woman purchased the "New Translation of the Quran" from Amazon.com. Scrawled on the inside cover was "F*** this Shi*" and "Death to All Muslims." Due to MPAC's diligence, the FBI opened a hate crime investigation.


What is a Hate Incident?
A hate incident is an act directed against a person(s) based on their actual or perceived race, nationality, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. The difference between a hate incident and a hate crime is that a hate incident is a non-criminal act.

HATE INCIDENTS INCLUDE:

Circulating offensive materials such as a hate e-mail or hate flyers without damaging property or threatening violence
Hate Mail

Example: Los Angeles, CA: February 2005
An elderly white male sent hate mail to numerous Asian and Muslim businesses and organizations that threatened to "Kill Chinese!" and "Kill Iranian Terrorists!" One storeowner received a threatening document with the picture of a neighboring Iranian travel agent, and the words, "Iranian (Persian) Lawyers bring Muslim Terrorists to L.A. / U.S.A!"


Posting hate materials that do not result in property such as caricatures depicting a racial, ethnic or religious group
In Business

Example: Santa Monica, CA: September 28, 2004
A store in Santa Monica displayed highly offensive signs with statements such as "Palestinians are God-less freaks whose only religion is violence and hatred and they are truly a cursed, diseased heard of freaks."


Displaying hate graffiti in public places, which is NOT directed at a specific individual or group, such as an epithet on a vacant building
Public Graffiti

Example: Santa Monica, CA: May 24, 2005
Graffiti was found scrawled over a mural, owned by the city of Santa Monica that said "Kill all the Muslims."


Making derogatory comments that lack the threat of violence
In the Classroom

Example: Alhambra, CA: June 2003
Following the invasion of Iraq, a twelve year old (half Iranian, half Assyrian) girl was interrogated by a few female classmates. Once she answered Iran, and explained that it was close to Afghanistan, the classmates made derogatory comments, such as, "I hate those places ... they're full of towel heads."