NEW YORK (AP) -- Sikhs in the United States are launching a million-dollar awareness campaign that seeks to stop violent attacks against followers by explaining more about who they are and what they believe.

The "We are Sikhs" campaign set to launch Friday is funded by Sikh leaders who have become frustrated with attacks that have persisted since Sept. 11, 2001, from the angry and uninformed who see followers' beards and turbans and wrongly believe they are Muslims.

The ads, which will air in part on CNN and Fox News, make no mention of the more than 300 hate crimes reported by Sikhs in the U.S. since the 2001 attacks.

Rather, they feature Sikh families explaining how the world's fifth-largest religion aligns with American values of tolerance, religious freedom and opportunity for all.