New CAIR Civil Rights Report Reveals First-Ever Drop in Total Complaints, Sharp Rise in School Incidents

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, released its latest civil rights report for 2022 at a news conference at its Capitol Hill headquarters in Washington D.C.

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Titled "Progress in the Shadow of Prejudice," the report documents 5,156 complaints to CAIR offices nationwide involving a range of issues including airline discrimination, banking discrimination, bullying, denial of service, education discrimination, employment discrimination, FBI Interrogation, First Amendment violations, hate crimes, law enforcement encounters, immigration/asylum cases, incarceree rights, sport discrimination, school incidents, among other reported issues.

SEE: 2023 Civil Rights Report: Progress in the Shadow of Prejudice 
SEE: CAIR Says Muslim Bias Complaints Return to Pre-Trump Levels

There was a 23 percent decrease in the total number of complaints for 2022 compared to the previous year. It is the first recorded decline since we started tracking such data in 1995. The new report notes that complaints about law enforcement and government overreach dropped by 38 percent. At the same time, complaints about school incidents increased by 63 percent.

"A one-year decline is fuel for optimism. It's not yet a trend. The rise in cases impacting students is concerning," said CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor. "CAIR's civil rights work can help secure this positive trend and the data tells us that more proactive measures to protect children are an important part of our efforts going forward."

In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:

"CAIR's latest nationwide civil rights data shows that progress has been made in the fight against anti-Muslim bigotry and discrimination, but that significant challenges remain. 

"The massive 63 percent rise in school related-complaints and persistently high reports of employment discrimination, bias incidents and government abuses are deeply concerning.

"We call on government agencies, companies and local communities to take some of the steps recommended in our report so that our nation can make lasting progress in the fight to advance justice for all, including American Muslims."

To join CAIR's media list, please sign up here: https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters — For more information, email: [email protected], CC [email protected] 

CONTACT: CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, [email protected]; CAIR Research and Advocacy Coordinator Ammar Ansari, 202-742-6410, [email protected]; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)