|
New Jersey Civil
Rights and Civic Engagement Initiative
| The aftermath
of September 11, 2001, during which New Jersey Sikhs
have endured misguided hate crimes, employment discrimination,
school harassment and other forms of bias, has compelled
us to come together to endorse the concerns and recommendations
outlined herein.
-NJ Sikh Civil Rights Agenda
|
In the fall of 2003, the Sikh Coalition began what it believes
will be a historic state civil rights initiative. Through
meetings held with the eight New Jersey gurdwaras over a
period of four months, and multiple meetings with NJ state
officials, the New Jersey gurdwaras and the Sikh Coalition
announced the “New Jersey Civil Rights and Civic Engagement
Initiative” (NJ Agenda).
In December, the Coalition, with the eight gurdwaras attending,
organized a press conference at the New Jersey state capital
that formally announced the initiative. With the local press
present, New Jersey gurdwara leaders and the Coalition released
the civil rights agenda. The agenda lists the civil rights
concerns of local Sikhs around four main areas:
- Hate crimes
- Employment discrimination
- School harassment
- Kirpan profiling
For each of these areas, the NJ Agenda outlined both issues
of concern and policy recommendations on how to improve
the responsiveness of New Jersey government to Sikh concerns.
In addition to announcing a civil rights agenda, the Sikh
leaders brought forward a plan to become more engaged in
New Jersey’s civic life. Specifically, the leaders
pledged to conduct voter registration and education drives,
redouble efforts to invite local community members to gurdwaras,
and engage in charitable acts such as feeding the homeless
and holding blood drives.
 Local
government leaders took notice of the New Jersey Sikh community’s
organization efforts. Since the release of the NJ Agenda,
the New Jersey Attorney General and leaders of the Department
of Education have conducted meetings with NJ Sikh leaders
to discuss their concerns.
Over the coming year, the Coalition will expand this local
initiative to other states in order to increase the interaction
of Sikhs with their local governments. The New Jersey Sikh
Civil Rights Agenda represents a significant achievement
for the Coalition’s Legal and Government Affairs program.
More importantly, it is a model for how the Community Relations
program area can facilitate local gurdwaras working together
on specific shared objectives.
[Additional information / Complete
video coverage]
|
