U.S. Elected Officials and Government Agencies Make Satements in Response to Backlash

September 14, 2001

Source: Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force

http://www.sikhmediawatch.org/official_correspondence/oc20010914_responses-2.htm

On September 14, 2001, the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force issued a press release which quoted House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt: "In the face of this act of terror, we must not abandon our bedrock American values of freedom and civil liberties that define our democracy. In World War II, our country made the shameful mistake of putting Japanese-Americans in internment camps where they were stripped of their rights, their dignity, their possessions. Among them was my colleague Congressman Mike Honda who reminds us that, 'civil liberty and due process were put in jeopardy by rage and hatred.' We must not repeat this mistake. I call on the American people - who have been so heroic and so kind in the last 48 hours - also to unite in condemnation of all hate crimes against all people in the United States. We must respect every minority community in our country, especially, at this moment, Arab-Americans, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and other Americans of South Asian descent. I pray all Americans will move forward with a common commitment to tolerance, human rights, human respect, and the rule of law at this most difficult moment."