Bill Text: CA ACR121 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Concurrent Resolution 121 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 53-20)

Status: (Passed) 2017-09-21 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 170, Statutes of 2017. [ACR121 Detail]

Download: California-2017-ACR121-Chaptered.html

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 121

CHAPTER 170

Relative to California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

[ Filed with Secretary of State September 21, 2017. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

ACR 121, Kalra. California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

This measure would designate the month of October 2017 as California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month. The measure would also recognize and acknowledge the significant contributions made by Californians of Hindu heritage to our state. By adoption of this resolution, the Legislature seeks to increase awareness and understanding of the Hindu American community.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, California and the nation have been influenced by the extraordinary cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of its residents; and

WHEREAS, There is an estimated one billion Hindus worldwide, and approximately 2.3 million Hindu Americans live across the nation; and

WHEREAS, California is home to the largest Hindu American population in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans in California represent diverse ethnic backgrounds, including individuals of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Malaysian, Indonesian, Afghani, Nepali, Bhutanese, Sri Lankan, Fijian, Caribbean, and European descent; and

WHEREAS, California and our nation have greatly benefited from Hindu Americans, especially through the Vedanta philosophy, Ayurvedic medicine, classical Indian art, dance, music, meditation, yoga, literature, and community service; and

WHEREAS, The United States was officially introduced to Hinduism by Swami Vivekananda in 1893 at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, and in 1900 he founded the Vedanta Society in San Francisco, California; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans and the Vedanta philosophy have significantly influenced notable intellectuals such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, J.D. Salinger, Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, Huston Smith, and Joseph Campbell; and

WHEREAS, The first Hindu temple in the United States was built in San Francisco, California, and at the dedication of the temple on January 7, 1906, it was proclaimed to be the “First Hindu Temple in the Whole Western World”; and

WHEREAS, There are now over 120 Hindu temples, religious centers, and cultural centers throughout California, and the greater bay area is home to over 40 of those temples and centers; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans have greatly enriched California’s higher education university systems by teaching numerous students, especially in the academic fields of astrophysics, computer science, engineering, law, planetary science, psychology, and neurosciences and a majority of Hindu Americans are in high-skill occupations; and

WHEREAS, Seventy-seven percent of Hindu Americans have a college degree and nearly 50 percent of Hindus have a postgraduate degree, according to the Pew Research Center; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans share the entrepreneurial spirit of America and contribute to California’s economic vitality, having been pioneers and leaders in Silicon Valley and founded several of its early startups. Hindu Americans are estimated to make up 40 percent of startups in Silicon Valley; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans have also contributed to many of California’s economic sectors and have particularly excelled in the areas of business, law, politics, information technology, medicine, and science; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans now serve in various levels of government across the state and nation, including four Members in the United States House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, California Hindu temples, organizations, and individuals actively engage in seva, a Sanskrit word for selfless service, towards their fellow human beings through charity, public service, and the provision of free medical and legal services; and

WHEREAS, Ahimsa, which is the Sanskrit word for noninjury or nonviolence, is a central principle for Hindu Americans in California, and it provides the ethical foundation for vegetarianism, environmentalism, and harmonious living; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans in cities throughout California celebrate numerous holidays and festivals, such as Diwali, which celebrates the victory of good over evil and knowledge over ignorance; and

WHEREAS, Despite their positive contributions to California and this nation, Hindu Americans have been the targets of discrimination, hate speech, and bias-motivated crimes; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans face stereotypes and misconceptions about their heritage and beliefs in the media and in elementary and middle-school textbooks; and

WHEREAS, One out of three Hindu Americans reported being bullied in the classroom for their religious beliefs according to a 2016 bullying report by the Hindu American Foundation entitled Classroom Subjected: Bullying and Bias against Hindu Students in American Schools; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans promote the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and religious freedom, which are inherent to their beliefs and respect the diversity of all faiths, and the Vedas, the 5000 year old texts of Hindu Americans, provide the basis for these core principles: “Truth is one, the wise call it by many names” (Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti); now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the month of October 2017 as California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes and acknowledges the significant contributions made by Californians of Hindu heritage to our state, and by adoption of this resolution, seeks to increase awareness and understanding of the Hindu American community; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.