Report faults Trump Administration for uptick in hate violence against South Asians

WASHINGTON, D. C. — In its most recent analysis of hate violence against South Asians and other minority communities in the United States, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) has laid the blame for the massive uptick in hate crimes, racial profiling and xenophobia squarely on Donald Trump and his administration.

The civil rights group’s report “Communities on Fire: Confronting Hate Violence and Xenophobic Political Rhetoric,” was released in March on Capitol Hill and circulated among lawmakers, think tanks, South Asian and minority community activists and pro-immigration advocacy groups. It was written by Radha Modi of the University of Illinois, Chicago, in consultation with SAALT’s leadership. Modi also provided the research, data collection and analysis.

“The 2016 United States presidential election cycle and ultimately the inauguration of President Donald Trump amplified a wave of hate violence against South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern, and Arab communities to heights not seen since the year after the attacks of September 11, 2001,” it said.

The report noted that “Islamophobia and hate violence in the United States pre-date the September 11th era and have continued to escalate since.” It also said that “the dramatic surge in rhetoric rooted in anti-Black, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant sentiment in 2016 and 2017 has fueled a palpable and unparalleled atmosphere of hate and suspicion.”

The report said that Trump’s first year in office built on the “already disturbing surge in hate violence” documented in SAALT’s 2017 report “Power, Pain, Potential.” That report had documented 207 incidents of hate violence and xenophobic rhetoric aimed at South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern, and Arab communities during the 2016 election cycle from Nov. 1, 2015 to Election Day on Nov. 8, 2016.

SAALT’s most recent report covers the period Nov. 9, 2016 to Nov. 7, 2017. In the first year after the presidential election, SAALT documented 302 incidents and hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric, “aimed at our communities.” SAALT said it was an increase of more than 45 percent from its previous analysis.

It noted that this broke down further into 213 incidents of hate violence and 89 instances of xenophobic political rhetoric. SAALT said 248 of the incidents – 82 percent - were motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment. The report also said that 1 in 5 perpetrators of hate violence incidents referenced Trump or one of his policies or campaign slogans, “underlining a strong link between President Trump’s anti-Muslim agenda and hate violence post-election.”

SAALT said its 2017 report had seen “a parallel proportion where one in five documented instances of xenophobic political rhetoric originated with presidential nominee Trump.” The analysis also pointed out that the most recent 2017 “The Year of Hate and Extremism” report from the Southern Poverty Law Center showed “that the greatest growth in organized hate groups between 2015-2016 was concentrated among anti-Muslim groups.”

The SAALT report’s cover page juxtaposed the Statue of Liberty with the tiki torch, which became synonymous with the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. “These opposing images represent the growing divergence between the reality of deep, systematic racism in the United States today and our core aspirational values as a nation of hope, peace, and justice,” the report said. “This is the same dissonance that built this nation on values of freedom while enslaving Africans and committing genocide against the Native American population.”

The analysis observed that “skin color often also leads to the perception of being Muslim and in other cases compounds Black and immigrant identities, both of which were often associated with the most violent hate incidents.”

SAALT said violence against South Asian communities “is informed by the stated and implicit goals of the current administration, and is also the product of the longstanding and systemic injustice that underpins many of our nation’s systems and institutions.” The analysis said that “in a telling demonstration of an increasingly toxic political debate, xenophobic political rhetoric continues to originate from those who hold the highest elected and appointed positions of influence in government.”

The report defined xenophobic political rhetoric as biased language by those in positions of power or influence intended to target and scapegoat South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Arab communities for political gain. It said racial profiling of these communities by law enforcement “further entrenches anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment, and sets a foundation for institutionalized discrimination against our communities.”

SAALT acknowledged that tracking incidents of racial profiling by law enforcement and other authorities was extremely challenging because no requirement exists for law enforcement authorities to document encounters with civilians, and was compounded “by the profound lack of trust that exists between our communities and law enforcement.” Instead of examining the news for stories, the report said a more accurate picture of the type of racial profiling these communities are subjected to was achieved when the victims reported incidents to SAALT via the an online intake form that accompanies the group’s online database of incidents.

“Unfortunately, the scope of racial profiling by law enforcement and chronic underreporting of hate crimes by law enforcement have a symbiotic relationship,” the report said. SAALT’s previous analyses found that South Asian communities have increased vulnerability to hate violence “when they are the repeated targets of policies that profile and surveil,” which the report noted was the case after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“Consequently, our communities simultaneously have less trust in law enforcement after experiencing hate violence,” the report noted. “While underreporting by local law enforcement is well known, the lack of compliance from federal agencies with law enforcement functions to report hate crimes is deeply problematic.”

The report also said that the relationship between various components or aspects of one’s identity played a key role in inciting hate violence. “Women wearing hijab or head scarves were the most vulnerable to hate violence, due to the intersections of gender, skin color, religious presentation, and immigrant background they represent,” the report noted. Youth were also susceptible to hate violence “due to their age intersecting with other parts of their identity.” The report noted that these young people are often bullied or threatened, not just at school but by strangers on the street.

The report was funded by the Ford Foundation, Four Freedoms Fund, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NOVO Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Proteus Fund, and the Voqal Fund.