Know Your Rights
Education
Muslim, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) children often experience barriers to receiving a quality education. These might include harassment, intimidation, and bullying, not speaking fluent English, absence of translations of official forms in Arabic, Urdu, and other languages, and ensuring their children are not treated differently by their teachers because of their race, ethnicity or religion. Fortunately, you have rights under federal law and New Jersey law that guarantee your children’s access to a quality education in schools.
Housing
Members of the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) communities experience discrimination by landlords and property owners. The law protects you from racial, ethnic or religious discrimination and gives you ways to file complaints with the government. If your landlord does not make repairs to your apartment or house, there are laws that give you rights as a tenant. And if your landlord wants to evict you, you should also know your rights in these situations.
Government Accountability
As Muslim, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) communities face surveillance and harassment by the government, you should know how to defend your constitutional rights. Some of the most powerful tools you have are Freedom of Information Laws. These laws give you the right to get government records that are not already given to the public. With these records, you can expose when the government violates your rights, and push the government to change the way they treat you.
