OCA SACRAMENTO

Sacramento Regional Coalition for Tolerance

Responding to repeat occurrences of hate crimes in the Sacramento Region, OCA Sacramento in partnership with State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), founded the Sacramento Regional Coalition for Tolerance in November 2010.  The coalition brings together community leaders from civil rights and social justice groups, chambers, educators, legislators, and lawmakers to collaborate on hate crimes and bullying by maintaining open lines of communications, sharing resources, in addition to outreach and education to communities.

In January 2011, the coalition partnered with the Hate Crime Task Force from the office of U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner of the Eastern District to host a reception in Sacramento for Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, head of the Civil Rights Division in D.C. reporting to U.S. Attorney Eric Holder.  Community leaders provided Assistant Attorney General Perez input to the Obama Administration’s
www.StopBullying.gov website, launched two months later.

EMBRACING DIVERSITY by PROMOTING TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING

   
Susie Wong (Center), receives recognition as Chair of Sacramento Regional Coalition for Tolerance, proudly stands with Assembly Members: Mariko Yamada, Roger Dickinson, Mike Eng, Dr. Richard Pan, State Board of Equalization member Betty Yee and "Day of Inclusion" founder, Steve Yee.  Many civil rights organizations joined Assemblyman Eng for the "Day of Inclusion" to celebrate the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act at the California State Capitol.     
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The March 4 shooting and deaths of Surinder Singh, 65, and Gurmej Atwal, 78, brought a region together with the coalition’s involvement. The elderly Sikhs were shot while taking their routine afternoon stroll in their Elk Grove neighborhood. Police have not arrested any suspects in the shooting, which was believed by many to be a hate crime, as local leaders offer rewards exceeding $42,000 for information on the incident. Here is an excerpt from Susie Wong’s remarks, chair of the Sacramento Regional Coalition for Tolerance and an OCA Sacramento boardmember, at Gurmej Atwal’s funeral, one of two Sikh American grandfathers who was shot to death.

“Our deepest condolences to the Atwal family. The tragic loss of both Mr. Atwal and Mr. Singh is a stark reminder of the challenge that lies ahead in our work to promote understanding and acceptance of different cultures, backgrounds and faiths. As a community we were tested during this time, to bring a sense of understanding during this difficult time. Our grief has turned to resolution, and coalition members have all joined together with the Sikh Community to work either directly or behind the scenes to help with this senseless loss. Community leaders, legislators - both democrats and republicans - lawmakers - namely the Elk Grove Police Department, FBI, U.S. Attorney, and Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department - all have led with their compassion, sense of humanity and what is morally right. Since this tragedy, your Sikh leadership has become a member of our coalition and of coarse we will continue to help and support the Sikh community. Mr. Atwal’s and Mr. Singh’s human spirit will serve as an inspiration in the days ahead and give deeper meaning to our coalition’s role of creating safe and healthy communities for our families and children to live - places where we can live with tolerance and acceptance of different cultures, faiths and backgrounds.”

Following the Sikh shooting, the Indus Valley Chamber of Commerce approached OCA Sacramento with concerns of potentially being singled out for similar crimes. The group’s fears stem from incidents following 9-11, where there were crimes instigated against Sikhs who were mistaken for Muslims. Through the help of the coalition, a town hall meeting was held led by Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones, FBI Supervising Special Agent Lee Witkowski of the Civil Rights Unit, and Executive Assistant to U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner, Laurel White.

At another meeting, Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) spoke to the coalition about bullying bills both introduced in the state legislature. Coalition members provided suggestions on a workable framework on Ammiano’s AB 9, also known as Seth’s bill, and Eng’s AB 1156, both anti-bullying bills signed in October 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown into law.

The coalition is designed to empower members to direct activities. Besides meeting quarterly, the coalition chair, as administrator of the program, emails relevant news articles to coalition members, mainly from the local region on hate crimes and bullying. The non-political, non-partisan coalition also serves as the clearinghouse for coalition members to share information on the issues from their individual organizations.

In research for TIME by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, Sacramento was identified as America's most integrated city. In Sacramento everyone's a minorityundefinedincluding whites. Of the city's inhabitants, 41% are non-Hispanic white, 15.5% are black, 22% are Hispanic and 17.5% are Asian/Pacific Islander.    

Coalition Members

OCA Sacramento

Florin JACL

NAACP

Jewish Community Relations Council

Sikh Coalition

Sikh Temple

Council on American Islamic Relations

Greater Sacramento Interfaith Bureau Service Council

Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce

Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Indus Valley American Chamber of Commerce

Slavic American Chamber of Commerce

Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center

Sacramento Mutual Housing Association

BRAVE Society

Asian ResourcesundefinedYouth Rise

Institute for Advancing Unity

University of California, Davis

Sacramento Unified School District

St. Hope Public Schools

Sacramento Asian Peace Officers Association

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer

Congresswoman Doris Matsui

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg

Assemblyman Roger Dickinson

Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada

Assemblyman Mike Eng

Observers and Interested Parties

FBI

U.S. Attorney's Office

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department

Sacramento Police Department

Elk Grove Police Department











 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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