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Diversity Inc – Sept. 11, 2007
Six years after Sept. 11, Muslims
see more inclusive workplaces
By Yoji Cole
After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, many American Muslims encountered increased hostility in the workplace, both overt and subtle. But that has changed in the last few years, as more corporations have become increasingly aware of the need for religious inclusion.
Lina Sayed's parents didn't want their 24-year-old daughter to face ridicule fresh out of school at New York University (NYU). Their concerns grew stronger after Sayed decided she would wear a hijab at her new job with JPMorgan Chase, No. 9 on The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.
Sayed's parents warned her about job discrimination, especially in the wake of Sept. 11. Seeing that the nation's collective fervor to get "them" before they get "us" led too many people to turn on their Muslim neighbors and coworkers, Sayed's parents were worried she would be isolated or an easy target.
"You can't deny that when you walk into an office [wearing a hijab, the headscarf worn by Muslim women], that's the first thing people notice," says Sayed. But in a way, that's precisely what she wanted.
"A lot of Muslims are sensitive and insecure and a lot of people are discriminatory," says Sayed, who decided to start wearing a hijab after graduating from NYU and attending a Muslim conference that took place at the Manhattan Center in 2005.
"It was a great experience, and after that, I decided to wear it," says Sayed. "Wearing it was very natural for me. I've always been Muslim but I have never looked the part. You have to look the part to deal with being the part. So for me to go out there wearing the hijab was a great experience."
As we get further from Sept. 11, 2001, it appears that American Muslims are safer and more comfortable in the office. While reported discrimination cases against Muslims overall continue to increase, the incidents in the workplace are decreasing.
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported a total of 2,467 civil-rights complaints in 2006, compared with 1,972 complaints reported in 2005, a 25 percent increase in the total number of complaints from year to year. However, civil-rights complaints involving the workplace declined significantly from 25.4 percent of the total (5,009) in 2005 to 15.6 percent (3,849) in 2006.
"As we work with corporations, we're seeing an increasing recognition that religion is the next big issue to deal with in terms of the diversity field and an increasing recognition that they need to be given tools for handling it," says Georgette Bennett, president and founder of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. Bennett will be one of 12 national religious leaders, including Muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists and fundamentalists, as well as corporate and LGBT leaders, taking part in DiversityInc's upcoming Religion in the Workplace Roundtable. Check out the Nov./Dec. 2007 issue of DiversityInc magazine to read this groundbreaking dialogue.
This increasing connection to religion in the workplace is clear in Top 50 companies, who set the trends as national diversity leaders. Seventy percent of the Top 50 have floating religious holidays and 16 percent make special religious accommodations, such as prayer rooms. Almost no one else in corporate America does this yet.
Bennett mentioned IBM as a company that has responded well to the needs of Muslim employees.
IBM provides a washroom where Muslim employees can clean their feet and nasal passages in preparation for their daily prayers. The company also provides two picture identifications for a female Muslim employee. In one identification card, she's pictured without her hijab, and that one is only seen by a female security officer. The other identification card pictures her with her hijab and she uses that card once she has entered the premises.
Bennett adds that the younger generation of American Muslims is more acculturated and therefore more likely to assert itself while becoming more observant of Islamic customs, such as wearing the hijab for women or growing beards in the tradition of the Muslim prophet Muhammed for men.
And the increase in overall civil-rights complaints doesn't necessarily mean there is more or less discrimination, she says. "We don't know because, in all likelihood, a fair percentage of complaints we're seeing now are complaints about conditions that existed before but the victims didn't necessarily complain about it in the past," says Bennett. "Today there is more willingness to be assertive because the Muslim community is becoming more organized, so there may be a greater willingness to file complaints." ….
http://www.diversityinc.com/public/2444.cfm
Independent – Sept. 11, 2007
Ohio: Residents of Arab descent feel right
at home even after terrorist attacks
By STEPHEN HUBA
Six years after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans continue to be shaped by that horrific day.
Arab-Americans, especially, have been affected, reporting instances of job discrimination, interrogation at airports and detention by federal authorities, according to the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
But not all Arab-Americans. Massillon area residents of Middle Eastern descent say they haven’t experienced blatant anti-Arab discrimination or prejudice, the way some have, in the years since 9/11.
“I think of 9/11 every day of my life,” said Massillon Municipal Judge Edward Elum, “but I don’t think it’s impacted Arab-Americans in Massillon.” Elum, of Lebanese descent, said he hasn’t even had to downplay his ethnicity in the years since 9/11. “I’m very proud of my ethnicity,” he said. “I’ve never felt like a second-class citizen.”
Phil Elum, 53, of Elum Music Co. in Massillon, said the biggest impact that 9/11 had on him was the loss of a close friend who worked in the World Trade Center. He said anti-Arab bias may be more prevalent toward newer immigrants. “I think that possibly happens to people who maybe have relocated to this country recently or who stand out as a little different,” he said.
His brother, George, 49, agreed. “I’m from Massillon all my life,” he said. “People look at me as being just another Massillonian.” “We’re Americans first,” Phil Elum said.
The Elums are second-generation Americans. Their grandparents came to the United States from Lebanon in late 1800s, and their father and uncles all served in World War II. “I have not experienced anything different (since 9/11),” George Elum said.
Jim Berbari, 53, varsity golf coach at Washington High, is proud of his “100 percent” Lebanese heritage and his “Massillon accent.” “People who are trained to look for those things would know that I’m Middle Eastern,” Berbari said. “I get teased once in a while for being Middle Eastern but nothing malicious. ... Most people don’t know and don’t care.”
Berbari, also a second-generation American, said he hasn’t noticed any changes in attitude toward his ethnic affiliation since 9/11. “I really haven’t been discriminated against,” he said, “but then I haven’t tried to get a job since then. I haven’t tried to buy a home. I don’t travel.” Berbari said Arabs who are Christian may have an easier time than Arabs who are Muslim. Most Lebanese in the Massillon area are Maronite Catholic or Roman Catholic.
Julia A. Shearson, executive director of CAIR’s Cleveland chapter, said she’s not aware of any anti-Arab discrimination cases coming out of Stark County in the last six years.
But nationwide, according the CAIR, the number of reported cases has increased each year since 9/11. There was a significant spike in 2003 with the onset of the Iraq war, Shearson said.
Most of the cases reported in Ohio have to do with excessively long detentions of Arab-Americans coming back to the United States from Canada, she said.
There also have been reported cases of Muslim Arabs being denied jobs or being unable to pray at work, she said…..
http://www.indeonline.com/index.php?ID=19880&r=0&Category=1
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