South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to fostering an environment in which all South Asians in America can participate fully in civic and political life, and have influence over policies that affect them. Approximately 2.7 million South Asians live in the United States, tracing their backgrounds to Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and the diaspora, including Trinidad/Tobago, Guyana, and Africa. SAALT works to achieve our mission through a social justice framework that incorporates the strategies of policy analysis and advocacy, community education, local capacity-building, and leadership development. Each of these strategies are linked to specific programs which you will find more information about on this website.
Asian American Organizations Denounce Hearing Targeting Muslims
Statement by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), OCA, Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
(Washington, DC): Today, Representative Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, convened a hearing on "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community." As organizations representing South Asian, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian American constituents around the United States, we have grave concerns with the tenor and scope of the hearing. As we had anticipated, the hearing did not produce any significant contributions to the crucial issue of national security. Rather, they continued to scapegoat a single religious community.
As Asian Americans, we are extremely disappointed with the targeting of a particular community within the halls of Congress. Along with Asian American communities, South Asian, Arab, Sikh and Muslim Americans share a long history in this country and have played an invaluable part in building this nation. Yet our communities have also faced discrimination and alienation in America. One of the most shameful chapters in our country's history remains the Japanese American internment during World War II. Sadly, the parallels between the treatment of Japanese Americans and the backlash endured by South Asian, Arab, Sikh and Muslim Americans in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, have been drawn before, and are all the more pertinent today. To question the loyalties and beliefs of a single community simply based on religion or race divides and alienates all Americans.
We applaud Congressional members and law enforcement agencies who voiced their disagreement with Representative King's hearing. Over 50 members of Congress as well as the Congressional Asian, Black and Hispanic Caucuses sent letters to Representative King asking him to reconsider the focus of the hearing. We also commend the members of Congress present at the hearing who urged a return to constitutional values and underscored American principles of tolerance, diversity and religious freedom.
We call upon Congress to engage in an objective dialogue about national security that focuses on constructive solutions, not scapegoating and targeting of particular communities.