Report on Hate Crimes & discrimination Against Arab Americans: The Post-September 11 Backlash


The FBI has recently reported that anti-Islamic hate crime incidents rose a dramatic 1,600% in the past year.

Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, said that the, "FBI stand prepared to take strong and immediate action against hate crimes in the event of any anti-Arab backlash to world events." Mueller also added, "Protecting the civil rights of all Americans remains a top priority for the FBI….I'm vitally concerned that the rights of Arab Americans, Muslims, and Sikh be protected."

The American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee (ADC) has documented that discrimination and hate crimes against Americans of Arab heritage, Muslims, and those perceived to be, is a sad and persistent chapter of the American experience.

It continues to increase despite the fact that discrimination against other ethnic and religious groups has been understood to be both morally reprehensible and politically incorrect. This pattern has been meticulously documented by ADC and is reprinted in the pages of the Report on Hate Crimes and discrimination Against Arab Americans: September 11, 2001 to October 11, 2002. ADC's findings along with the FBI reports illustrate a disturbing trend taking place in American society.

ADC offers this Report as a systematic survey of the very serious problem of prejudice. The Report is divided into four sections which deal with legal issues, discrimination in education, media bias and defamation, and recognizing positive acts of support.

Copies of the 141-page report will soon be made available for purchase online. To receive an update via e-mail send a message to: adc@adc.org.