Congressional Tri-Caucus Joins Forces to Support Minority Rights - Sign Petition

Posted Apr 22, 2011

April 22, 2011 (Washington, DC) - For the first time ever, leaders of the U.S. Congressional Tri-Caucus—comprised of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus—have signed a letter in support of Sikh civil rights. The letter, addressed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), calls on the agency to end workplace segregation affecting Sikhs and other religious minorities. We now call upon you to spare a few seconds of your time and sign a petition letter to President Barack Obama, asking him to join the fight.

According to some interpretations of federal law, employers with corporate image policies can hide Sikhs from customers. In other words, some courts have effectively given employers permission to tell a Sikh that his or her face is not fit to be seen by customers and should be hidden in a backroom, out of public view. The Sikh Coalition finds this offensive and contrary to the integrative purpose of our nation’s most cherished civil rights laws. We are trying to put an end to this modern-day version of the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine.

Last year, we convinced Congressional leaders to include corrective language in the proposed Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) legislation, and this year we are also calling upon the EEOC to close the segregation loophole through its administrative process. Last month, we persuaded 30 national civil rights organizations in America to support this cause as well. We are now calling upon the Sikh community and its allies to make its voice heard by the White House.

The Sikh Coalition is a community-based organization that works towards the realization of civil and human rights for all people. The Coalition serves as a resource on Sikhs and Sikh concerns for governments, organizations and individuals.

www.theamericanmuslim.org