Discrimination & National Security Initiative (DNSI) is a research organization affiliated with the

Pluralism Project Diana L. Eck (born 1945 in Bozeman, Montana, Bozeman, Montana) is a scholar of religious studies who is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, as well as a former faculty dean of Lowell House and the Director ...

, a

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

project that studies religious diversity in the United States. Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, several communities within the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

experienced and continue to endure a prolonged and wanton

backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backla ...

. In particular,

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

, and other American communities have confronted verbal harassment, employment discrimination, physical assault, and even murder. For example, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a turbaned Sikh, was murdered just days after the September 11 attacks. In response to the post-9/11 climate and the need to understand how discrimination has impacted these targeted communities in the United States, DNSI was created. The purpose of the project is to examine the mistreatment of minority communities in times of war or national crisis. DNSI is specifically interested in the human consequences of such mistreatment. In addition to performing research and releasing substantive reports, DNSI regularly notes relevant incidents and developments on its

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

. DNSI was officially established on December 18, 2004, the 60th anniversary of ''

Korematsu v. United States ''Korematsu v. United States'', 323 U.S. 214 (1944), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during World War II. The decision has been wid ...

'', the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case that upheld the forced exclusion of citizens of Japanese ancestry, including the

Japanese American Internment Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. The dissenting justices warned of the use of perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin as a proxy for suspect qualities, including subversion and disloyalty to the union, during wartime. DNSI examines discrimination and its social impact not just in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, but also in other historical and international contexts that implicate the tension between equality and concerns for national security, such as the backlash against

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

after the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

and the broader debate regarding assimilation and multiculturalism that is taking place in several Western societies (''see'',

United Kingdom debate over veils The United Kingdom, British debate over veils began in October 2006 when the MP and government minister Jack Straw wrote in his local newspaper, the ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph'', that, while he did not want to be "Universal prescriptivis ...

). DNSI is directed by

Valarie Kaur Valarie Kaur (born February 14, 1981) is an American activist, documentary filmmaker, lawyer, educator, and faith leader. She is the founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. Kaur's debut book, ''See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revol ...

, creator, writer, and producer of the documentary, "Divided We Fall", and Dawinder “Dave” S. Sidhu, a civil rights attorney. DNSI issued its first report, "''We are Americans Too: A Comparative Study of the Effects of 9/11 on South Asian Communities''," on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The report addresses the impact of and the responses to the discrimination that South Asians faced since

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, focusing specifically on

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

in the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, area. Its second report, "''The Sikh Turban: Post-911 Challenges to this Article of Faith''," examines the tangible and intangible discrimination faced by turbaned Sikhs in the wake of the 9/11, terrorist attacks. This report, issued in the spring of 2008, provides an overview of Sikhism, incidents of discrimination, broader challenges to Sikh identity, and legal remedies available to victims. The report is currently being adapted into an academic text.

External links

Discrimination & National Security InitiativeDNSI BlogPluralism Project
Pluralism (philosophy)