Thread by @ACLU

Today is a day for remembering and reflecting on those who were lost. Not for rewriting history or erasing the harms that followed to Muslim and other Black and Brown communities, including through discriminatory policies.

https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1304385740063805440

Following 9/11, a number of Muslims or people perceived to be Muslim were violently assaulted and scores of mosques were vandalized, with attacks ranging from racist and anti-Muslim graffiti to arson and firebombing.

Instead of pushing back against the tide of intolerance, federal, state, and local governmental officials and agencies exploited people’s fears and systematically targeted Muslims and Black and Brown people for unfair scrutiny — or worse.

Under the Bush administration’s discriminatory programs, tens of thousands of Muslims were questioned, thousands were deported, and hundreds were subjected to secret and arbitrary detention and abusive interrogation — including the original Muslim registration program.

FBI counterterrorism trainings instructed agents using anti-Muslim tropes and stereotypes, resulting in unmerited suspicion, inflitration, and investigation of Muslims.

Congress held hearings to examine whether Muslims in America were becoming “radicalized” — focusing on religious beliefs rather than criminal conduct — and whether Muslims had proven their loyalty to this country by denouncing potential terrorists presumed to be in their midst.

The DOJ publicly smeared as terrorism co-conspirators America’s most prominent Muslim civil rights groups, membership organizations, activists, and community leaders based on unproven allegations. Government actions even shut down many of the country’s largest Muslim charities.

Local zoning boards also took part in anti-Muslim action and discrimination, resorting to various technicalities in an effort to block the construction or expansion of mosques and infringing on religious liberty. We intervened in many cases.

The NYPD mapped Muslim communities in New York City and beyond, deployed officers and informants to infiltrate mosques, student groups, sports games, restaurants, and more, and conducted other forms of warrantless surveillance of Muslims. Brave Muslims sued, and won.

Abusive, cruel, and discriminatory practices extended abroad. Our country engaged in systematic torture and extraordinary rendition, military commissions and indefinite detention, warrantless surveillance, and secretive and unaccountable use of lethal force.

Khaled El-Masri was kidnapped by the CIA in Macedonia, detained and tortured at a black site, then released without apology or explanation. The case was illustrative of the many Muslim or Muslim-appearing men who were unjustly rounded up by authorities and forcibly “disappeared.”

That’s just pre-Trump. Some of these actions continue, new ones have emerged. We and partners have challenged — and continue to challenge — these discriminatory policies and practices in courts and legislatures nationwide.

Our government violated human rights, damaged the rule of law, and destroyed the lives of Muslim, Black, and Brown people. Instead of rewriting this history, we must work towards a new rights-respecting approach to our collective human security: justsecurity.org/72359/toward-a…