First Benchmark Study on Bay Area Muslim Community, One of Nation’s Largest, Finds Broad Diversity, Economic Gaps, Institutional Need

(SAN FRANCISCO) — Wednesday, May 15, 2013 — A new study, the first of its kind to provide a broad assessment of the Bay Area Muslim community, finds that Muslims across all walks of life continue to face entrenched Islamophobia more than 11 years after 9/11.

The Bay Area is home to one of the largest, most diverse Muslim populations in the U.S., with nearly 250,000 Muslims living in the six counties surrounding San Francisco.

While the study shows that the regional Muslim community is very diverse, socioeconomically and culturally, one challenge shared by virtually all of its members is a “heightened sense of Islamophobia,” says one of the principal researchers.

“More than a decade after 9/11, we see that Muslims of all ethnicities and backgrounds are still dealing with a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, a lot of bias,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian, a professor at UC Berkeley and one of the study’s principal researchers. “Unfortunately, the tragic events in Boston won’t help the problem.”

The Bay Area Muslim Study: Establishing Community and Identity finds that across the region, Muslims struggle with widespread discrimination, negative portrayals in the media, and a sense of being “double minorities” due to their ethnic and religious backgrounds — despite the fact that many Muslim immigrants settled in the Bay Area because of its reputation for cultural tolerance.

The study, the first to provide a broad look at a community that has experienced “meteoric growth,” finds that Muslims make up some 3.5 percent of the region’s total population.

The study’s key findings also include:

• The Muslim community is incredibly diverse, ranging from new immigrants from various world conflicts, to highly educated and well established professionals, to native-born Muslims and recent converts, among many others.
• As a whole, the Muslim community suffers from a significant socio-economic gap, with median household income below the Bay Area average.
• Huge disparities exist within the community as well. While a highly educated, highly paid segment of the community exists — largely in Silicon Valley — a disproportionate number of Muslims live below the poverty line, particularly in San Francisco and Alameda County.
• South Asian Muslims have the highest incomes in the community, with nearly half having household income above $100,000.
• Among immigrant Muslims, 67 percent speak at least three languages.
• The institutional support — the mosques, nonprofit organizations and government agencies required to serve any community — is still underdeveloped.
• Charitable giving is a core value among a vast majority of Bay Area Muslims, with almost two thirds of those surveyed identifying as civically engaged.
• Poorer Muslims, particularly clusters of refugees living in larger cities, are particularly vulnerable.

“Refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere have tremendous needs,” Dr. Bazian said. “They’re often clustered in public housing complexes or dense areas of the inner city, and the resources are just lacking. We need to invest in our communities.”

The Bay Area Muslim Study: Establishing Community and Identity, was commissioned by the One Nation Bay Area project, comprised of four leading Bay Area philanthropic foundations. The research, conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, is a “benchmark study” – the first of its kind to look at the Bay Area’s Muslim Community. This research report was authored by UC Berkeley Professor, Hatem Bazian, Ph.D. and ISPU’s Director of Research, Farid Senzai, Ph.D..

“The findings not only show that there is broad diversity, socioeconomic gaps, and institutional needs — they call out the resiliency and strength of a community. Our commitment to working with Muslim communities in the Bay Area is strong, and we intend to continue our long-term investment in strategies that will empower women and girls, and invest in legal services, capacity building, and promoting civic engagement to deepen cultural and religious understanding, ” said Dr. Sandra R. Hernández, CEO of The San Francisco Foundation.

The One Nation Bay Area project is a collaboration among The San Francisco Foundation, Marin Community Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy).

More than 1,100 Bay Area Muslims were surveyed for the study, which looked at a) identity/religiosity; b) civic engagement; and c) challenges/needs.

Over the past two years, One Nation Bay Area has supported collaborations between American Muslims and non-Muslims working on solutions to community needs. One Nation Bay Area commissioned this report to help create informed, responsive and sustainable action by philanthropic institutions, public agencies, and the private sector.

Download the full report and the executive summary.

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ONE NATION BAY AREA PROJECT partners:

About The San Francisco Foundation
The San Francisco Foundation (TSFF) is the community foundation serving the Bay Area since 1948, granting more than $800 million over the past ten years. Through the generosity and vision of our donors, both past and present, TSFF granted $89 million in fiscal year 2012. TSFF brings together donors and builds on community assets through grantmaking, leveraging, public policy, advocacy, and leadership development to make a greater impact in our community. By focusing on people, organizations, neighborhoods, and policy, advocacy and organizing, the Foundation addresses community needs in the areas of community health, education, arts and culture, community development, and the environment. In response to the economic downturn, TSFF is also focusing funding on safety net partners, job creation and training, and mortgage foreclosure relief and neighborhood preservation. The San Francisco Foundation serves San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and San Mateo Counties. www.sff.org

About AAPIP
AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy) is a national member-supported philanthropic advocacy organization dedicated to advancing philanthropy and Asian American/Pacific Islander communities. AAPIP members include foundations, staff and trustees of grantmaking institutions, and nonprofit organizations in ten regional chapters in the United States. AAPIP engages communities and philanthropy to address unmet needs; serves as a resource for and about AAPI communities; supports and facilitates giving by and to our communities; and incubates new ideas and approaches for social justice philanthropy. AAPIP is committed to Building Democratic Philanthropy – a framework to support the development of institutions and philanthropic practices that begin with the vision of communities first, and that draws on the assets of those communities as the starting place for any blueprint to maximize their potential. www.aapip.org

About the Marin Community Foundation
The Marin Community Foundation is the primary center for philanthropy in Marin County, CA and is one of the largest community foundations in the U.S.  It manages the assets of the Leonard and Beryl H. Buck Trust and over 400 funds established by individuals, families, and businesses.  The Foundation makes significant improvements in communities around the world in two ways: by spearheading initiatives for long-term, sustainable change in Marin, and by distributing grants from donor-advised funds locally, across the U.S., and around the world. Now in its 25th year, the Marin Community Foundation has assets of approximately $1 billion, with annual grant distributions of approximately $50 million. www.marincf.org

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation makes all forms of philanthropy more powerful. We serve as a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region’s most challenging problems. The community foundation has $2.9 billion in assets under management and more than 1,650 philanthropic funds. As Silicon Valley’s center of philanthropy, we provide individuals, families and corporations with simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. www.siliconvalleycf.org

In fact, it sends some strong statements by encouraging undocumented immigrants to leave the country and return in the distant future; paying a fine for being here “illegally”; setting an undefined goal called a “trigger” as a bench mark to determine that our borders are secure; promoting a point system that will result in the separation of families; and utilizing a flawed E-verify system to track legal employment.

However, after my usual analysis to first look at the negatives, I have taken a step back and believe that the proposed legislation is at least pointing in the right direction. Looking back at the lessons from the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we learned just how long it took for monumental change to occur. From changing deeply entrenched negative public perceptions, building enough political will from legislators, to developing new partnerships to push the agenda forward.

In the case of pushing comprehensive immigration reform forward it may continue to take us on a long and similar journey.

As recent as the 2008 Presidential election, the topic of immigration reform was a non-starter. In fact, President Obama’s administration through the Office of Homeland Security has deported more undocumented immigrants than any other sitting President.

Yet in 2012, it is common knowledge that President Obama’s re-election involved a strong turn out from immigrant communities. Now several poll’s cite the growing support from the public; legislators from both political parties work tirelessly to grab the immigrant vote with Senator Marco Rubio, a Tea Party darling, leading the way; and the recent endorsement from several conservative Evangelicals and business leaders with a strategy to give political cover for conservative legislators who in the past have showed very little political will or prowess to move immigration reform forward.

Many progressive organizations are preparing to weigh in on amendments to the proposed immigration reform legislation.  Patricia Diaz, Executive Director of Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), an immigrant rights collaborative supported by The San Francisco Foundation, described that she will fight to include family reunification, protection of worker’s rights and a roadmap to citizenship for aspiring citizens.

There is a long way to go before we are able to develop and pass a common sense immigration reform bill. My suggestion to the several legislative staff who will draft and redraft language for this historic bill, is to keep in mind the saying on the Statue of Liberty; for its intent of compassion is what makes this country so special. I also offer a suggestion to the rest of us – we must remain patient but vigilant in this journey as the country moves towards a fair and just immigration policy.

Tax Day is that day that calls on all of us to think about what it means to be a citizen of the United States and what our obligations are to each other. It goes beyond the oversimplified arguments about government being too big or being too small. For me, it is more about what it means to have obligations to each other as citizens who share a social contract about how we are going to get along. That social contract, which has been memorialized in the Constitution and all of the laws and regulations derived from it, including the tax code, are the formal structures that shape our sense of community.

Beyond this formal structure, what does it mean to share a common destiny with all of the obligations and commitments implied in that? If taxes are a way to “settle accounts” between us, through the instrumentality of government, how are we to interpret current budget talks and conversations about tax reform? Square in the middle of this are fundamental concepts of justice, opportunity, and equity. One taxpayer’s tax burden is another taxpayer’s chance at a job training program, a decent public education system or treatment for a deadly disease. As Barney Frank has said, “Government is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together.”

You don’t have to look at polls to appreciate how contested the issues of size of government and taxes are. While a majority of Americans accept the idea of higher taxes for some public goods, most people do not want their taxes raised. Compared to other wealthy countries, the United States tax burden is ranked 32nd among countries with higher tax rates. Compared to rich countries like Germany and Norway we pay significantly less, but we also pay less than less wealthy countries like Slovakia, Turkey, and Poland. The real question isn’t how much we pay comparatively, but how much those taxes yield for us.

Of those 31 countries that pay more, the majority of them use tax money to extend life expectancy, support education, and sustain a more outcomes oriented safety net. We have the highest per capita health costs, declining high school graduation and a growing underclass. We don’t seem to be getting value for our money compared to other countries.

Many Americans say that government is inefficient and does not spend money effectively. But, if you look at Medicare, our government program for the elderly and long term disabled, health care costs, including administration, are the lower than any commercial health insurer. Our government can be efficient.

Let’s remind ourselves that we are all in this together and that when we all get better (financially, medically, socially), we all get better. Let’s take a look at how much we pay as a country and what we get as a country, in terms of the health, education, economic opportunities and environmental outcomes from our taxes. Let’s understand why we get so little compared to our competitors and allies in the global economy and commit ourselves to overhauling and simplifying our tax code, improving progressivity, and getting value for our expenditures. Let’s turn the rhetoric down and increase the transparency and accountability we have to strengthen our contract with each other and to promote justice and the well being of us all, including those who have the least.

The session, “Building Bridges, Building Power: Race, Immigration, and Faith-based community organizing in Post-Prop 30 California,” was hosted by Interfaith Funders and focused on the latest research, trends, and organizing strategies. (Download a copy of Building Bridges, Building Power: Developments in Institution-Based Community Organizing, a just-released report published by Interfaith Funders.) The San Francisco Foundation hosted the meeting; we are proud of our 20-year partnership with the faith-based community through our FAITHS program, which has built a network of over 600 bay area congregations and faith-based organizations.

Amidst the researchers, faith leaders, and organizers, Rev. Deborah Lee noted that immigration detention centers are quietly located in many communities where the surrounding neighborhoods have little or no knowledge of their presence. Rev. Lee, Director of the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, hosts a monthly vigil where a dedicated group of up to 100 community members bear witness to the activities at the immigration center located in Richmond, California.

Why does the faith community continue to focus on immigration? Because there are tragic implications of our immigration policy, such as dividing families via deportation and addressing these “is another step in the long history of humanization.”

“There is a deep generational struggle involving race and class,” says Dr. Manuel Pastor of the University of Southern California, pointing to California’s election results as an example of how younger voters and people of color are making their votes count.

Dr. Pastor, a national expert on equity issues and community-based advocacy, shared observations on “Big Changes in Organizing” that have occurred over the last twenty years, leading to the recent passage of California’s Proposition 30 that was largely driven by people of color and younger voters. He highlighted that:

1. Organizing strategies have shifted from interest-based to values-based. People share many values— think security, education, democracy. However, there are many ways to meet those values. For example, education can occur by resourcing the public school system or by removing your children from that system to a private school. By focusing on values, organizers can appeal to similarities in values rather than the interests that often separate us.
2. There has been a shift from focusing on issues to focusing on a vision. Whether it’s the DREAMERS or the push for marriage equality, focusing on the vision of what’s possible helps build momentum.
3. In the past, organizing strategies focused largely on identity, such as race; more recent strategies focus on a common frame, such as who we are as Californians.
4. Strategies have also shifted from focusing on what makes people angry to building on aspirations. Dr. Pastor observes that younger people are very hopeful and both younger folks and many people of color feel that government can help them reach their dreams, so an aspirational approach is a very effective organizing strategy.

Erika, a 14-year-old immigrant who is also a remarkably seasoned organizer with a PICO affiliate, drove home the message of the power of organizing: “When you go visit your representative and you can say that you turned out 60,000 votes, you’re no longer powerless.” Amen.

Water. Ubiquitous for so many of us. We don’t think twice about it until it’s not there. Bay Area residents are fortunate to receive the majority of our drinking water from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. A proposition to shut down the dam signaled far-reaching implications and detrimental effects for all Bay Area residents, especially those most vulnerable. Staggering costs anticipated in closing the dam and developing alternative sources of water would have forced redirecting millions of dollars in funding from essential health and human services.

The San Francisco Foundation felt compelled to take a position, and joined a coalition of organizations and government in opposing the proposition. Our $100,000 grant to Save Hetch Hetchy was instrumental in the No campaign. Our lead investment meant the campaign was able to carry out a winning strategy that targeted ethnic media and engaged constituents of color, a move that ultimately tipped the scales in November. Voters struck down the measure by a large margin of 76.9%, preserving this source of pristine water and clean energy, protecting city funding of critical services.

IMPACT: The $100,000 investment to Save Hetch Hetchy opened a diverse civic dialogue about the issue. The proposition was defeated, thereby protecting city and county funding for critical services.

As a state, we can stop borrowing from the future and preserve current educational, health and economic development programs to stem our declines in school performance, employment and health outcomes. This is especially important for Californians whose incomes place them in the bottom 20%.

I caution us all to not presume that a balanced budget has solved the state’s retreat from improving the well being of low income Californians. Rather, the state will need to grow revenues just to prevent current educational, health and affordable housing outcomes from declining.

We got part of the way there by balancing the budget, now the heavy lifting needs to occur.

We have many reasons to be hopeful. The balanced budget is a direct consequence of Prop 30 that passed in the November elections. Californians came together and agreed to pay more sales tax and state income tax to end the State government’s financial hemorrhaging.

On top of the passage of Prop 30 to balance the budget, a poll released in December by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that Californians are optimistic about their future. Particularly, younger Californians, see a brighter future for the Golden State.

The poll also demonstrated support for spending reforms and lowering the vote thresholds necessary to pass state and local tax increases. Californians support simple majorities (as contrasted with 2/3 majority) to raise additional revenue. That having been said, the majority of Californians are not supportive of raising the sales or vehicle tax. A slight majority expressed that California will become a better place to live in the future.

That is where the disconnect occurs. California will become a better place to live and filled with opportunities only if we do better on educating our children, increasing job training, building affordable housing and updating crumbling infrastructure. And that is only a start.

The optimism expressed in the poll, as seen in the optimism about  the economy combined with the ability to generate more revenue, is only manifest if we invest in our public goods. The right ingredients are there, we just need to remind our fellow Californians that our shared problems are solvable if we create the means to solve them.

Say what you may about increased taxes, but strengthening government and increasing taxes are the primary vehicles to build this future. The private sector can play a leading role providing job opportunities and increasing the wealth of Californians but it is not able to provide the public goods that lead to more opportunities for all Californians to co-create a better future for our State.

Our shared future is a filled with potential. Let’s make sure we capture that opportunity!

Francisco Gamboa and Cassandra Alvarez presenting the PICO community organizing model – one that begins with one-on-one relationships

Growing up as an Indian American, I know just how complex the fabric of our society is; how far we have come and how far we still have to go for all of the people that live within America’s borders to feel welcomed and accepted.

Last week, we convened grantees of the One Nation Bay Area Project.  Their stories of cultural programs, food justice, youth organizing and advocacy against racial profiling made me so proud of the work that our grantees are doing.

The One Nation Bay Area Project’s aim is to address the anti-Muslim rhetoric and tension that came out of the September 11th, 2001 attacks in New York City and the Pentagon.  It will bring Muslim and non-Muslim communities together to promote civic and community engagement, change public perception and educate on city or community services that are available to everyone.

The December 5th convening created a space for the grantees to share their work, the learning’s and the challenges they have encountered.  What was evident was that the grantees needed more time to interact with one and other.  Even when the convening concluded, majority of the grantees lingered around to continue talking amongst each other.

I’m looking forward to seeing the work that comes out of the final year of the One Nation Bay Area Project.  The passion and commitment continues to inspire me. And I’m excited that The San Francisco Foundation takes chances on funding projects that forces our society to address issues that often are swept under the rug.  Like all good things, it first starts with listening, then sharing and finally moving to action!

2.6 million people in the Bay Area depend on the Hetch Hetchy system for their drinking water. Water from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir is so pure and clean that it does not need filtration. The reservoir provides critical water storage during a time of climate uncertainty and projected water shortages. Projected costs to dismantle the system and find replacement water range from $3 billion to $8 billion. The social, financial and environmental implications were staggering.

Now that our water is safe, we need to recommit ourselves to diversifying our water system. As Hurricane Sandy unfortunately taught us, climate change is here and we need to prepare with all due haste. We need to explore and implement any and all policies and programs to store, conserve, reuse, reduce, recycle and reclaim water. No stone can be left unturned—especially if there is water underneath.

Thank you Prop F, for prompting us to redouble our water conservation efforts and thank you San Francisco voters, for saving our precious water.

Mark diCamillo, from the Field Poll, pre-released polls last Friday here at The San Francisco Foundation, showing the emergence of Californians of color as providing the critical margin to the most contested propositions before us this Tuesday.

New America Media, a grantee in our public policy cohort, commissioned Mark DiCamillo of the Field Poll to poll in six different languages to better understand the ethnic vote in California. Those languages included English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

In contrast, with White, non-hispanic voters, Latino, Asian American and African Americans will likely provide the margins needed to shift the outcomes on ballot Propositions 30, 32, 34 and 38. This indicates the emerging influence of Latino, Asian American and African Americans on California Elections.

The most recent poll, conducted at the end of October, describes an emerging trend among children of first generation immigrants, voting in very different ways from their parents. Not surprisingly, the newer generation of young voters, in general, support propositions to support raising new revenues for education, ending the death penalty in favor of a life sentence, and support the re-election of President Obama. Latino, Asian American and African American Californians appear to have a different view of the role of government and candidates that skews positively to progressive ballot measures and candidates, more than their White, non-hispanic, Californian counter parts.

The San Francisco Foundation, through it’s public policy and civic engagement programs, support organizations like New America Media and state based organizations to maximize voter participation of low income communities, communities of color and non-English speaking voters. We also support voter education and voter mobilization in the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Foundation is non-partisan and opposes San Francisco’s Proposition F.

Watch out for some more posts on voter engagement after Tuesday’s election.