The Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Muslim Student Association at Cal State Northridge will host a sensitivity seminar Wednesday night to help counter Muslim Americans' biggest growing concern -- Islamophobia.

"(W)hen the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry, that is a sad and troubling development," former UN Secretery-General Kofi Annan said in December 2004. "Such is the case with Islamophobia."

The seminar is open to the public and will be held in the Lake View Terrace room of the University Student Union. A flier for it states: "This growing phenomena -- best characterized by harsh and hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric from elected officials and national media personalities -- is a cancer that hurts all Americans and their understanding of their Muslim neighbors. Our future as a community depends on what we do today."

To schedule a workshop in your community, MPAC officials ask that you contact them at (213) 383-3443.

I recently wrote a story about Islamophobia that should run in the Daily News in the next few days.