California Assembly member Judy Chu, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes, recently convened hearings to hear testimony and policy recommendations on hate crimes in the Sikh American Community. The Southern California hearing took place on September 28, at the Museum of Tolerance in west Los Angeles.
The California Sikh Ccouncil participated in organizing the event and provided testimony with other community members regarding specific hate crimes and hate incidents including assaults, bullying and harassment in school, their places of work, and vandalism at Sikh Gurdwaras.
The hearing was rich with heartrending testimony from community members that have suffered since 9/11. Many important points were made and policy changes recommended to help stem the still prevalent problem.
Others organizations providing testimony at the hearing were: representatives from the Office of the Attorney General, FBI, LA County Sheriff's Department, Asian Law Caucus, Sikh Coalition, UCLA API Caucus, South Asian Network, Sikh Dharma, SMART and the California Department of Education.
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