Huff Post: As Americans of all backgrounds continue to try to achieve the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement on the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, members of three growing religions in the United States have a unique opportunity to stand together for equality and shared human dignity.

Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs together make up less than 3 percent of the American population, but they have become increasingly prominent in the American social fabric, thanks to the advocacy efforts of all three groups in the wake of 9/11 and the similar experiences members of each religion have faced in being recognized and respected in the United States. They have been victims of violence, too, as exhibited by the attacks by members of all three groups over the past decade.

While the post-9/11 era has created a shared sense of struggle, the experiences of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs actually dates back to the early 20th century, when laborers from colonial India were brought to work jobs that whites wouldn’t do. A number entered the United States through Angel Island, where immigration officials would try to find excuses to reject them from entry. Americans often failed to distinguish between them, as Indian Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were all classified as “Hindoos.” In 1907, the Bellingham riots in Washington targeted Sikhs (mistaken for Hindus), who were driven from the town by mobs of white men. Throughout much of the 20th century (until the end of the Asian Exclusion Act in 1965), all three groups struggled — often together — to deal with systematic discrimination, isolation and marginalization. Much of that history, however, has remained in the shadows, though groups such as South Asian American Digital Archive and the Smithsonian’s “Beyond Bollywood” exhibit have tried to underscore those shared stories.

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