October 29, 2014

Dear Friends,

I have great news! Two years ago, I had the honor of testifying before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the topic of "Federal Civil Rights Engagement with Arab and Muslim American Communities Post 9/11." I’m happy to announce that they have finally published their report and findings.

When MPAC was asked to provide expertise on the civil rights of American Muslims, we did not hesitate to do so. Getting our voice and experiences heard by our government is the first step in protecting our civil rights.

In my testimony, I evaluated the successes and failures of the federal government in engaging the Arab and American Muslim community post 9/11. For example, I highlighted the discrimination of national security programs designed to surveil rather than engage our communities. I stressed the importance of partnership and trust between American Muslim communities and law enforcement. I also discussed the damaging trickle-down effect that negative statements by public and elected officials have on American Muslims, such as increased bullying of American Muslim students in schools.

The purpose of the report is to “examine federal efforts to eliminate and prevent civil rights violations, including incidents of hate crimes, prejudice, bias, stereotyping and travel discrimination against Arab and Muslim-Americans spurred by the reactions to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks... ” The Commission believes the report is “helpful in identifying specific actions that can be taken to vastly improve federal efforts in this endeavor.”

There are many more steps we need to take to protect our civil rights and MPAC is wholly committed to seeing them competed. We hope you’ll support in continuing our work to follow up and implement the recommendations in this report.

Sincerely,

Haris Tarin, Director of the Washington, DC, Office