About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 Anniversary Update on Commission Activities Related to September 11 [i] (2002)

handle is hein.civil/usccrt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 










                       The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

  Anniversary Update on Commission Activities Related to September 11

                                  September 2002



The various reactions and responses to the events of September 11, 2001, have raised a
number of civil rights issues. Violence, threats, and discrimination against Muslims, Arab
Americans, and others perceived to be from these communities were the immediate
issues arising from the attacks. The anthrax contaminations renewed concerns about
disparities in our health care delivery systems and the subsequent adverse impact on
communities of color and low-income people. Additionally, legislative responses to the
war on terrorism, as well as other actions and proposals, have raised questions about their
impact on civil rights and civil liberties.

As the watchdog agency charged to monitor the enforcement of federal civil rights laws,
the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has given a high priority to addressing civil rights
concerns that have been raised as result of the September 11 attacks. In the past year, the
Commission has been at the forefront of highlighting civil rights issues stemming from
the attacks, as well as developing various programs and services facilitating the
identification and analysis of a broad range of substantive issues affected by post-
September 11 civil rights concerns.

Within days of the attacks, the Commission established and publicized a unique
complaint hot line to solicit and catalogue discrimination complaints, helping to identify
affected communities and discrimination and hate crime patterns. In the month following
the attacks, the Commission held a briefing on U.S. immigration policies in the aftermath
of the terrorist activities. The Commission continued to focus attention on post-
September 11 civil rights issues throughout the year by holding a briefing on bioterrorism
and health care disparities in March 2002 and facilitating a briefing presentation on civil
rights issues facing the Muslim and Arab American communities in July 2002.

The Commission also asked its State Advisory Committees (SACs) to organize efforts at
promoting tolerance and investigating local civil rights conditions affected by September
11. Those committees responded with forums, briefings, and meetings with local
community groups and leaders, which were held throughout the year and spread over 20
states and territories throughout the country. Both the Commission briefings and SAC
initiatives provided important opportunities for experts, community leaders and
advocates, and affected populations to present civil rights problems to their government

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most