Ethnic minorities honor victims

Daniela Mohor

Monday, Sept. 24, 2001 | 9:15 a.m.

Women covering their heads with the white veil of their traditional "Kemis" cloth, barefooted men in suits and young girls in colorful sari all had a single prayer -- for American freedom.

During memorial services Thursday and Sunday, hundreds of people from ethnic minorities that have been mistaken for Arabs publicly honored the victims of the terrorist attacks.

"Let's long live the American liberty, let's condemn the evil spirits for what happened in New York and D.C.," Las Vegas Ethiopians sang Thursday in their native Amharic at the Saint John's Greek Orthodox Church.

On Sunday, Indians held small flags and intoned "God Bless America" at the Hindu Temple.

Worried about possible backlash after the attacks, the Ethiopian and Indian communities in Las Vegas are multiplying their efforts to avoid being mistaken for terrorists. Their concern particularly increased after a Sikh was shot in a hate crime in Arizona on Sept. 15.

Faced with the double challenge of mourning their victims -- 250 Indians and 32 Ethiopians are missing, officials say -- and of proving that they join the country in grief, both minority groups have been collecting money for the victims' families, donating blood and praying for America.

"We are here today to show support and solidarity, to show that we are all together for the same cause," said Hitesh Chokshi, president-elect of Friends of India, the cultural organization that hosted the prayer service at the Hindu Temple Sunday. "We're people from Indian origin, but still we are Indian-Americans."

This feeling of national belonging is what led 23-year-old Nikhil Pathel to attend the ceremony.

An Indian born in the United States, Pathel said he came to the memorial to pray for the victims and to help stop the discrimination sparked by the attacks.

"Just because we're brown-skinned doesn't mean that we're terrorists," Pathel said. "We're proud to be Americans. There shouldn't be any hatred."

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, however, harassment and fear of harassment based on race and religion have risen in Las Vegas, leaders of these communities said.

Teshager Kelkay, secretary of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, said, for instance, that customers have refused to ride in taxis driven by Ethiopians, because of the way they look or because they have unusual names.

Three Ethiopians with names such as Mohammed or Abdul have told him they want to change their names to sound more American, he said.

Likewise, a number of people, both Ethiopian and Indian, have decided to stop wearing their traditional clothing.

"It's a real concern to see how the society is going to cope with this," Kelkay said. "People are afraid to walk in the neighborhood, because they don't want to be the target of any action."

Members of other minority groups are worried too. Five local Muslim organizations, some of which have received threatening phone calls, have formed a coalition to fight against prejudice.

The coalition, which includes mosques, a school and a student organization, has planned seminars Saturday at several locations to teach Las Vegans the basics of Islam.

"One in four Americans doesn't know anything about Islam," said Imam Fateen Seisullah, leader of the mosque As-Sabur. "We want people to understand that the terrorist groups have nothing to do with what Islam is representative of."