Last month, a neighborhood dispute in Virginia Beach shocked the nation when the local police department issued a public statement that the neighbor that has been blasting racist slurs and sounds on his loud speakers cannot be charged with a crime. The victimized black neighbors had been complaining to the authorities for months about their neighbor and decided to go public, stating that their children are terrified about going out of their home and are inquiring about the n-word that is often blasted on their neighbor’s audio speakers. This case adds another dynamic to the national discourse occurring about the white supremacist threat in America, and the discussion about controlling hate speech on social media without impeding on the civil liberties of Americans. Before diving down into that discourse, let’s analyze why the Virginia Beach Police Department was not able to criminally charge the racist neighbor that had been harassing his neighbors — how did he get away with it?

To answer this question, we have to understand the relevant legal codes.

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This week, MPAC endorsed a letter in support of the Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia Act, introduced by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). This bill highlights the seriousness of the repercussions of unchecked Islamophobia. The bill calls for a special envoy to be formed in the State Department to monitor and report on its findings, so that lawmakers may better adopt policies that battle the anti-Muslim bigotry phenomena that is plaguing Muslims around the world.
 

Join us as we discuss the ramifications of the events of 9/11 on American Muslims - The racial disparities in prosecution of hate crimes, surveillance and privacy violations disproportionately affecting American Muslims, the war on terror and double standards of DTO v. FTO investigations and prosecutions and how this fueled a rise in Islamophobia.
In conversation will be Sajid Khan, Deputy Public Defender in San Jose, CA, Shirin Sinnar, Professor of Law at Stanford University, and Salam Al-Marayati, President of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

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Join us for a virtual summit on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and what we can do to be the best allies. The summit will provide a space in which Afghan voices are recognized and uplifted, whilst addressing the political climate surrounding the ongoing crisis. 

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