Vandals defaced an exhibit by Muslim graduate student Anida Yoeu Ali at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) on Tuesday. The exhibit, which addressed racial profiling and the rise of violence and hate directed at Muslims in the post-9/11 era, was defaced with large caricatures and a word bubble highlighting the text “Kill all Arabs.” CAIR-Chicago is advocating on behalf of Ali. Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham accompanied Ali yesterday in a meeting with the deans of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

See media coverage of the incident HERE

The exhibit addressed racial profiling and the rise of violence and hate directed at Muslims in the post-9/11 era, according to a release from Chicago's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The installation features a wall filled with lines from actual hate crimes against people perceived as Muslim or Arab.

CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez says Arab Americans are told to check white for race. But for many of the estimated four million Arab-Americans – that doesn't seem to be telling the whole story.Reema Ahmad is with the Council on American Islamic Relations. She says the most important thing, is civic duty. Especially since some Arab pockets of the city had low participation for the last census.