CLAIRE ZUGMEYER Arlene Daus (left) of
the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and UCLA professor
Esha De discuss issues Asian Americans face.
By Christian Mignot
Daily Bruin Contributor
Students held an open forum about the South Asian
community’s reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks and the
subsequent racial backlash Tuesday night as part of South Asian
Heritage Week.
The forum, organized by Sangam, a Pan-Asian campus group, was
lead by a panel of five speakers: three members of the Muslim
Student Association, a representative of the Asian Pacific American
Legal Center and a UCLA professor.
The panelists said there currently exist two main forms of
racial discrimination. Primarily, people are associating the
Muslim-American community with violent fundamentalism; some see
every Muslim as a terrorist, said MSA member Reem Salahi, a
third-year developmental studies student, who attributed such views
to ignorance and the media.
“We are all being lumped together and marked as
alien,” said Esha De, a women’s studies and Asian
American studies professor. “But this isn’t the only
form of alienation we are experiencing. Within the South Asian
community, invisible barriers are being erected, and the community
is fracturing because people are so eager to disassociate
themselves with those that others see as responsible.”
De said that until recently she had been friends with an Afghan
dry cleaner, with whom she used to talk about South Asian films
when she picked up her clothes. Now, De said, their relationship is
practically non-existent because the dry cleaner is afraid De may
be stereotyping her.
The panelists cited examples of a racial backlash following the
Sept. 11 attacks: a Sikh store owner, father of three, was killed
in Mesa, Ariz., because of his resemblance to the suspected
terrorists. Also, an Egyptian grocery store worker was killed in
Arcadia, Calif., in what police called a robbery though nothing was
stolen after the shooting.
Arlene Daus, hate crimes education organizer for APALC, said
that in Los Angeles alone, there has been a huge increase in
reported hate crimes. Since Sept. 11, there have been 70 cases in
Los Angeles, while the majority of hate-related incidents have gone
unreported. Usually, Daus said 100 such incidents would occur in an
entire year.
Panelists said many South Asians have stopped wearing their
traditional dress, with some Muslim women taking off their head
scarves.
De recounted how one of her friends, who was wearing the shalwar
kameez ““ a traditional outfit associated with Muslim regions
of South Asia ““ was followed by two men because of her dress.
As a result, De no longer wears her shalwar kameez.
All panelists agreed that as a whole, the South Asian community
has come together following the attacks.
“The backlash has really been a blessing in disguise for
us because it has caused us to reach out to each other,”
Salahi said. “Although Islam has often been portrayed
negatively, this will allow us to fix the misconceptions, and in
turn, analyze ourselves.”
Some suggested that minorities should bind together and protest
policies that may be discriminatory, such as racial profiling.
Others suggested a passive approach was better.
“The best way to react is to let our actions speak for
themselves,” said David Sedrak, a fourth-year psychobiology
student. “Standing strong and aggressively could only be
twisted into something that it’s not by the media.”
De said the community must think beyond identity politics.
“As South Asians, we must advance the cause of social
justice.”
South Asian Heritage Week will continue through Saturday.