NEW YORK — Taichi Sugiyama was three years old when he lost his father, Yoichi Sugiyama, on Sept. 11, 2001. Now 16 years old, Sugiyama came to New York to ask the world to “never forget.” On Sept. 11, Sugiyama read aloud names of some of the victims ofthe 9/11 terrorist attacks from a podium […]
Sikh family receives death threat again
March 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
When a Sikh family in Sterling, Va. received a death threat in the form of a letter addressed to “Turban family,” on Feb. 28, it was not the family’s first experience with religiously motivated threats to their safety. They had seen a hate letter of this kind, demanding that the family leave the country or […]
Sikhs shocked by unprovoked Fresno attack
December 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A bloody attack on a 56-year-old Sikh preacher in the city of Fresno (in early December) has rattled the local community, with members recalling the period after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when Sikhs became the target of anti-Muslim sentiment for their turbans and beards. “I saw hatred in the assailant’s eyes,” recalled S. Anup Singh, […]
Japanese Americans lead 9/11 10th anniversary memorial in Sacramento
September 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A diverse group of Americans gathered Sept. 9 for a 10th anniversary memorial of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the Buddhist Church of Florin, a historic site where Japanese Americans once gathered in 1942 to learn of their impending imprisonment in American concentration camps. This time, however, the group gathered to […]
Lessons from America’s past important to recall on the 10th anniversary of 9/11
September 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Ten years ago, the United States was shaken by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks upon New York City and Washington, D.C. In the immediate aftermath, the Japanese American National Museum contemplated its role in response to these unthinkable events. Clearly, more than our country’s national security was under attack. Our way of life as a […]
Muslim, Japanese American youth empowered by history
May 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
LOS ANGELES — “Have you ever been called a racist name?” Mustafah Hawari, 17, asks Yuka Ogino, 23, a Japanese American coordinator at the Bridging Communities Program. “Yes, I have,” she tells Hawari and the small group of students sitting on the floor at a mosque in Anaheim, Calif. The students, most of them Muslim […]
Letter of support to the American Muslim community
Editor’s note: The following letter was sent on Sept. 3 to three American Muslim organizations — the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Shura Council of Southern California and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Dear Muslim American Friends, I am writing to you today to extend a hand of support and understanding, and to let […]