Chicago Arab Youth Fight Against Racial Profiling
Members of the Arab American Action Network’s (AAAN’s) youth organizing program hand delivered a letter to Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Division of the FBI, and held a press conference Thursday, August 18th at the FBI office, 2111 W. Roosevelt Road.
The letter demanded an end to the FBI Chicago Division’s policies of racial profiling, including the use of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and undercover informants, and the unveiling of the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program. This action comes as the AAAN’s Campaign to End Racial Profiling against Arab and Muslim communities in Chicagoland marks its 4th year.
The demands are based on the results of a community survey of over 450 Arab and Muslim residents within Chicagoland, which detailed their experiences with different levels of law enforcement. The survey found that 1 out of 10 community members who responded had been visited by the FBI, and 85% of those visited had been asked questions about their religion, national origin, political beliefs, or immigration status. These and other statistics from the survey results speak to a policy by the FBI of singling out Arabs and Muslims for hyper-scrutiny, through policies like SARs and CVE.
“We have known our whole lives that the FBI especially harasses our people and community,” said Sobhiya Salem, a leading youth organizer with the AAAN, “but now we have data from our survey and other research that will strengthen our demand that this racial profiling end immediately.”
The letter, written by members of the AAAN’s youth organizing program and signed by a number of allied organizations (American Friends Service Committee, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Assata’s Daughters, Korean American Resource and Cultural Center, Chicago Desi Youth Rising, and others), was hand delivered to Anderson at 4:30 PM. Apress conference followed immediately, outside the FBI office, where confirmed speakers included AAAN youth leaders and respective members of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Bluest Lie Collaborative. Additional speakers were later announced.
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