The Applied Research Center - The Publicâ€™s Truth Santa Clara

The Publicâ€™s Truth Santa Clara

Stories of Racial Profiling and the Attack on Civil Liberties. Community Testimony presented Thursday, September 25, 2003.

On September 25, 2003, in Santa Clara,California, community members, interfaithleaders, labor leaders, and public of€cialswitnessed accounts of personal experiences with post-Sept. 11 national security policies and practices. This event, called the Public’s Truth, was a forum forcommunities to share real stories of how the “war onterrorism” affects the lives of immigrants, refugees, andpeople of color. Hosted by the Applied Research Center,the Council on American-Islamic Relations of NorthernCalifornia, Filipino Community Support, the San Jose Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, the Muslim Community Association, People’s Association ofWorkers and Immigrants, Services, Immigrant Rights,and Education Network, and Sikh Mediawatch andResource Task Force, the Public’s Truth raised awarenessof the scope and scale of the attack on civil liberties and human rights in communities nationwide since Sept. 11, 2001.

Testimonies highlighted both growing racial intoler-ance and excessive security policies of post-Sept. 11America.

“Maria” was one of several veteran employees at a jan-itorial services company who lost her job after Sept. 11because of her immigration status. She described thecrippling effects of unemployment on her family and thecommunity at large.

“Ms. A,” a South Asian woman, was harassed and leftbruised by Mountain View police officers who questioned her about being Muslim.

Jaime Escober, a Filipino airport screener, lost his jobwhen the Aviation and Transportation Security Act re-quired that all airport screeners be U.S. citizens.

Kavneet Singh Alag, a Sikh community leader, de-scribed how the national Sikh community has been sub-jected to hate crime violence and neglected by lawenforcement. He talked about the recent murder of oneyoung Sikh cab driver: “The police can’t really ever de-termine whether it’s a robbery or a hate crime,” Alagsaid. “Because of the fact that he had his turban on and a beard, I’m sure it made it a little easier to pull thetrigger.”

Such examples of racial profiling, institutionalized dis-crimination, and hate violence did not begin with the“war on terrorism.” The Public’s Truth also included thestory of Ed Takeda, a Japanese American whose fatherwas kidnapped by the FBI and whose family was placedin an internment camp by the U.S. government after the1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. As the terrorist attacksunfolded on Sept. 11, Takeda predicted the government’sracist backlash: “First will come the arrests, then peoplewill be hauled off to jail. If they do not watch out, peoplecould be in camps too. It is so wrong.”

While new laws have been crafted and law enforce-ment powers have expanded since Sept. 11, many of thepolicies and practices that constitute the domestic “waron terrorism” are actually extensions of pre-existing dis-criminatory practices. Milton Reynolds, an African American educator, spoke about his experiences withracial pro€ling and harassment by law enforcement be-fore Sept. 11, and demonstrated the continuation of such practices across communities of color.

The testimonies and reflections shared at the Public's Truth remind us that awareness of the effects of the domestic “war on terrorism” is spreading. It is all of our re-sponsibility—no matter our race, ethnicity, religion, orcountry of birth—to resist racial intolerance and discriminatory policies and practices that affect communities in the South Bay and elsewhere. This publication includes excerpts from four personal testimonies, reflections by three Official Witnesses, and an action list for how to support South Bay organizations working for justice.