Anti-Muslim Hate Crime in Sunnyvale, California, Galvanizes the Community.
On April 23, 2019 a man drove his Toyota Corolla into a group of pedestrians and bicyclists in a crosswalk at El Camino Real and Sunnyvale Avenue, injuring 8 people, who he thought were Muslims. In response to this recent hate crime Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, state and federal representatives, as well as several religious leaders held a solidarity event on May 29, 2019 with interfaith allies. The event was held at the Sunnyvale Senior Center and featured a panel of government officials and other community representatives to promote peace and strengthen community bonds.
Over 300 people were in attendance at the Unity Gathering because the Sunnyvale community felt. as many expressed, that the whole community felt it had experienced a great trauma and were all victims of this act of hatred. This was an evening to gather together to counteract an act of violence and hatred with a gathering of peace and unity. The evening began with Samina, a Muslim woman who gave the invocation.
The Mayor of Sunnyvale, Larry Klein was one of the featured speakers and he said that the incident happened just a block from his house and he stayed at the the scene until midnight. He was dismayed that this hate crime targeted members of the Muslim religion as Sunnyvale values diversity. Mayor Klein also said that “hatred and bigotry are not acceptable in Sunnyvale. We are better because of diversity” and that “Sunnyvale is no home for hate.” The mayor was very passionate about standing up for human rights and said he valued diversity as a strength of the Sunnyvale community.
A religious panel of various faith traditions spoke about their experiences of hate crimes being inflicted on them because of their faith and made suggestions as to what they recommended could be done to counteract violent acts of religious intolerance. Members of the panel included an Episcopal priest, a Rabbi, a Muslim, a Zen Buddhist monk, a member of SIREN, a Hindu representative and a member of the Sikh faith. The Sikh representative described how Sikhs had experienced hate and how they’ve been targeted because they were at times mistaken for being Muslim. The Hindu panelist also shared they have also experienced a spike in anti-Hindu violence and increases in hate speech against them as well as bullying. The Zen Buddhist monk explained that Buddhists were also being demonized and described how the Zen community experienced discrimination because they had a hard time getting the necessary permits to build their Zen Temple in Sunnyvale.
The panel’s Muslim representative observed that there had been a 24% increase in anti-Muslim violence in the US in the past year and that 3 of 5 Muslims have experienced discrimination. The Rabbi pointed out that in the last 5 years there had been a resurgence of anti-Semitism and that swastikas have been painted on synagogues, and noted that there has been a resurgence of violence in the US against Jews. The bottom line the Rabbi pointed out was that Jews don’t feel safe in their synagogues and don’t know what to do.
The religious panel encouraged some straightforward solutions to counteract the acts of hatred and violence that pervades our country. The panel encouraged people to take several actions. The 300 people in attendance were encouraged to:
- Visit temples, synagogues, and places of worship in their communities in order to engage in dialogue and to get to know one another.
- Keep an open mind and learn about one another.
- To be open to conversation and willing to remove barriers. To be allies with one another and to not be afraid to ask questions.
- To go to diverse religious festivals in the community.
- To get to know their neighbors
- Listen to understand.
- To not just engage but to be willing to have deep conversations with religious groups.
One of the panelists pointed out that interfaith dialogue is similar to learning a foreign language, that that is another way of understanding other religious traditions. It’s not a matter of which religion is truest or the best, but of learning about and understanding another tradition, like learning a language. After the panel presentation everyone enjoyed breaking the fast with the Muslims who were celebrating an Iftar with the community during the month of Ramadan.
