** Creating Change Across the U.S. Government
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Last year, the National Sikh Campaign led and launched a coalition of national civil rights and faith-based groups at the White House called "Know Your Neighbor." Know Your Neighbor (http://knowyourneighbor.us/) 's mission is to foster a nationwide dialogue on the country’s religious diversity and share the humanity of all faiths and traditions in America.
As part of this mission, last year the coalition advocated that various government agencies update and review their religious discrimination policies. Due KYN's advocacy work, the White House and the Department of Justice abided by that request and established nation-wide policy roundtables led by the Department of Justice.
NSC Executive Director, Gurwin Ahuja, speaks to Know Your Neighbor Coalition members at the White House.
Last month, the White House held an exclusive briefing to unveil Department of
Justice’s (DOJ) report entitled: Combating Religious Discrimination Today
(https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/877936/download) , which summarized what the DOJ learned from the roundtables. The report focused on four specific areas of concern:
education, employment, hate crimes, and land use.
The DOJ also announced changes in policy across the government. Our advocacy work prompted policy changes at the following agencies: the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, the EEOC, and the Department of Homeland Security. The White House also released a blog
(https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/07/22/combating-religious-discrimination-today), specifically acknowledging Know Your Neighbor's contribution to the policy changes. Many of the policy changes were related to enhancing, streamlining, and improving the communication to faith communities.
Know Your Neighbor is made up of members from civil rights and faith-based
organizations.
Here is a key excerpt from DOJ’s report the promoted these changes:
"[D]espite the existence of a number of statutes that prohibit religious
discrimination, there remain significant gaps between the protections of our laws and the experiences of people in their daily lives. Communities recounted how many people are confronted with discrimination and harassment and do not know where to turn for support or assistance. There was agreement that the Federal government needs to enhance its outreach, improve its communications, and streamline its bureaucracy. By making government more accessible and approachable, we can ensure that all people receive the full protections embedded in our laws." (emphasis added)
https://www.facebook.com/Know-Your-Neighbor-1628339154105932/?fref=ts
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