Council on American-Islamic Relations, California (CAIR-CA)
Council on American-Islamic Relations, California (CAIR-CA)
Council on American-Islamic Relations, California (CAIR-CA)
CAIR-CA is a civil rights and advocacy nonprofit serves the Muslim community in California, including a large Muslim AAPI community. CAIR-CA specializes on issues of civil rights and immigration including the protection of Muslims from hate crimes and bullying. We do this work through the following programmatic focuses: 1) Leadership Development and Youth Empowerment 2) Policy, Advocacy and Civic Engagement 3) Civil Rights Legal Services 4) Immigration Services, and 5) Narrative Building in the Media.
About the Organization:
organizational budget
5 MILLION - 8 MILLION
existence for
26-30 YEARS
Organization benefits AAPIs residing in the following state(s):
organizational budget
5 MILLION - 8 MILLION
existence for
26-30 YEARS
Organization benefits AAPIs residing in the following state(s):
The Issue:
Hate crimes are one of its most visible manifestations of Islamophobia that are impacting Muslim AAPI communities across California, Washington, and Arizona, which are all hot beds for active white supremacist groups. The Muslim AAPI community has been facing hate since 9/11, which has increased during the Trump administration, and worsened during the pandemic. The three CAIR chapters involved in this project represent a large and diverse population of Muslims in the United States. California is home to the largest overall Muslim population in the country, Washington state encompasses one of the largest Muslim AAPI communities, and Arizona has been hit by the worst incidents of hate crimes in the country. Over the past 5 years, CAIR-CA, CAIR Washington, and CAIR-Arizona have received over 1,500 reports of hate crimes/incidents and more than 200 reports of school bullying targeting Muslim American community in their region.
The Solution:
- Collaborate on how to address this issue in the media and work with media outlets to better portray the Muslim AAPI communities,
- Increase the legal representation of the AAPI individuals who have been the victims of hate crimes/incidents,
- Increase direct engagement with the AAPI Muslim American community by conducting in-person and on-line Know Your Rights (KYR) webinars to increase awareness among the Muslim AAPI communities,
- Conduct bystander trainings to educate the Muslim AAPI community on how to respond to hate and Islamophobic crimes and incidents,
- Increase direct engagement with the media to address Islamophobic and anti-AAPI hate crimes and incidents.
