Sometimes, when I mention that I encountered racist spew while growing up in Northern California, I am greeted with extreme skepticism; “No way. Not in CALIFORNIA!”. Yes way, in my beloved golden state. Yet again, someone’s father/brother/grandfather almost died because of ignorance and hate. Via the Mercury News (might require registration) (Thanks, Dave and Kamala):
The day after the stabbing of a Santa Clara grandfather left South Bay Sikhs reeling, prosecutors are weighing hate crime and attempted murder charges against his neighbor, who apparently believed the man belonged to the Taliban.
Iqbal Singh, 40, was waiting in his carport with his 2-year-old granddaughter around 10:50 a.m. Sunday when the suspect approached him and stabbed him in the neck with a steak knife, Santa Clara police Sgt. Kurt Clarke said.
Singh was still in the hospital Monday with serious injuries. The girl was unhurt.
I thank any deity you prefer that Iqbal Singh’s baby granddaughter wasn’t also attacked by this sick @$$#0(#. What is this world coming to, when you aren’t safe in your own driveway? From people who probably know you better than strangers, even if we’re all bowling alone?
Santa Clara police arrested Everett Thompson, 20, of Santa Clara, later Sunday, Clarke said. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and a hate crime, Clarke said.
Perhaps we have an explanation for something so senseless:
There are indications that Thompson, who may suffer from mental illness, believed Singh was a member of the Taliban, officials said Monday. Singh is not.
I love that clarification at the end there, just in case anyone was unclear on the concept that SIKHS ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE TALIBAN.
I’ve always maintained that there is a special place in hell for people who attack others when they are praying (or about to):
When Singh was attacked, he was waiting for the rest of the family to come down to the carport from their upstairs apartment on Agate Drive. They were on their way to worship services at San Jose Gurdwara Sahib, Gurmeet Singh said.
(Sikhism)…promotes peace and understanding.
“We are simply trying to peacefully live, earn a living and practice our religion,” Gurmeet Singh said. “This hate is driven by ignorance.”
I find the whole conversation about Sikhs elevating their profile and public perception slightly distasteful. We (including Sikhs) would be better off if we spend our time on stopping random acts of violence against innocent people than in trying to find ways to raise the public perception of Sikhs so the right kind of people can be targeted.
Are you saing Sikhs distancing themselves from Muslims is unfair to brown Muslims?
Are you saing Sikhs distancing themselves from Muslims is unfair to brown Muslims?
Its in poor taste. Akin to talks of Sikhs taking off their turbans and shaving their beards.
The dating idea is cute but slightly impractical, there’s only a couple of million of us and we’re not exactly famed for our sleeping around abilities as a group.
kama sutra? you know ppl prefer brown sugar!
We (including Sikhs) would be better off if we spend our time on stopping random acts of violence against innocent people than in trying to find ways to raise the public perception of Sikhs so the right kind of people can be targeted.
point taken, but i doubt that raising awareness of sikhs would result in muslims being targeted because the vast majority of american muslims don’t stick out as much as sikhs do. but like i said, part of the problem is that the people who need to be targeted just don’t think, or think straight, in the first please.
Interestingly that seems to be what this Jewish group in Norway is asking its members to do:
Interestingly people were quick to assume or imply that the attacker was white… ironic in this thread…
I completely agree with Anna (Comment #. 46) and ALM (Comment #. 49 and 52).
Saheli (Comment #. 48) has a good point – more engagement with the mainstream and local politics will definitely even though it does not provide full protection – nothing does. Probably, the best option available. Jewish community is a good example. They are very embedded in the American psyche and politics, sure they are mostly white and that helps. Every one knows the Mel Gibson’s utterances.
Prashanth, Irish and Scots have very different and distinct accents but then I have spent time in Scotland, and had Irish friends. Man, seriously you need smarter friends to hang around – distinguihing a Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu takes 30 seconds.
Interestingly people were quick to assume or imply that the attacker was white… ironic in this thread…
🙂
Correction: I meant Maratha.
@Kush Tandon
No no no..between a Marathi and a Gujarathi. Tamilian and a Telugu. Two different issues. See. Not too hard. And besides, I think you missed the point completely. My point is that these attacks will definitely continue to happen. One way or the other. Unfortunate but true.
I’m guilty of that too. I also thought the DC sniper was white too.
My point is that these attacks will definitely continue to happen. One way or the other. Unfortunate but true.
That does not mean you stop living your life and your core beliefs. No one can be hijacked.
I think entering mainstream politics/ activities and visibility for any group is the way to go. Abhi, rightfully so is a big proponent of entering politics – He wants to be a US Senator after he has been to Mars, just like John Glenn.
He wants to be a US Senator after he has been to Mars, just like John Glenn
glenn went to marz? dude, i need to catch up on my physical science!
Very sad. I am NO fan of religion (story for another day/thread), but defend to the end peoplesÂ’ right to believe and dress, etc. as they wish.
But I agree with the comment someone made about Sikhs and other Indian-Americans starting to put their financial clout to use – well, to use beyond building competing temples/etc. in every Metro area (which Dr. Shah/Singh donated the most, aare dammit??) and renting out the Hilton for 6 figure weddings, that is. 😉
Use the cash politically, use it help educate the ignorant about who Sikhs are, use it to give back and integrate better with the communities that provide you your livelihood, etc.
Remember the “Dot-Busters” years ago in New Jersey? Mostly local black and hispanic youths attacking Indian immigrants. But the desi community wised up and began to reach out to the local residents. You cannot just profit off the local community, you have to engage them and not isolate yourself. Our entrepreneurial skill and success is wonderful and to be admired, but one must work on communicating and integrating effectively with the communities in which you live/work/prosper.
PS – Hi A N N A! Sorry i did not drop you a line to discuss the whole Flaming Youth/Sonic Lips issue. The man had me out on the road, not sleeping much.
Don’t feel so bad… several people including the bumbling Maryland Police chief Moose had that same notion, despite there being eyewitnesses who saw Mohammed and Malvo driving away, as voiced by Phil Donohue’s infamous line: “You’re not going to like to hear this, but this is a white guy.” People are quite comfortable with the idea of a white serial killer or racist psychopath…
People are quite comfortable with the idea of a white serial killer or racist psychopath
racism = race + power. non-whites have no power, so they can’t be racist. QED.
Go figure. I grew up in the armpit of america, no make that the perineum of america aka the deep south, and never had any racial problems (knock on wood), and here, this guy lives in on of the most progressive states and this happens. I definitely feel sorry for the misconceptions regarding the Sikhs.
Depends on who is in the majority. ALl racial groups are capable of it based on that context.
Good point ANNA. Why stop at the outside symbols of faith too?
When all the Sikhs and Hijabi wearing girls have been hidden away in shame and fear, what are we going to say when we get attacked for simply being a brown skinned ‘Arab’ lookalike? Hindus Sikhs and Muslims have been abused and attacked even when they are clean shaven and non Hijab wearing.
And maybe those ladies in New Jersey should have stopped wearing bindis back in the old days, that would have saved them from being beaten up by the dot bashers. I mean how could they have been so provocative by wearing those dots on their heads?
I’m just a regular Hindu with a regular integrated family. And even we suffered abuse where we lived from time to time in England. And it still happens. Maybe we should scrub our faces until they’re raw and then rub chalk dust into our skin so we won’t provoke people with our curry coloured skin.
ALl racial groups are capable of it based on that context.
only whites dehumanize the hypercolonized Other via exploitation and systemtization of heirarchical power relationships implemented via rationalistic linear “scientific” thinking.
i apologize for the joke above. sincerely. this is a serious thread. sometimes i lose control….
best.
only whites dehumanize the hypercolonized Other via exploitation and systemtization of heirarchical power relationships implemented via rationalistic linear “scientific” thinking.
Oh come on mate, your not serious. I think your being a leftist spoor lam.
razib is correct on the technical definition of “racism”. Anyone can be a bigot/prejudiced, but you must be in a position to affect outcomes based on your views to be a racist. Ahh, the ivy-league sociology classes i was once fortunate to take. 🙂
You missed your calling being a spokesperson for the New Black Panthers… ;-).
they have panthers in india too. only they’re brown and are called leopards. the new brown panthers.
egregious comment. done just to use that word today.
But, to my knowledge Sikhs weren’t such big targets for all out violence pre-9/11. I’m not saying they should assimilate, give in, sell out their beliefs, etc.. But Sikhs are targeted not for religious beliefs, but rather a high visual correlation (higher than an a shaven, non turbaned desi) to the image associated with the 9-11 attacks. Somehow I feel the slippery slope argument doesn’t have clear cut applicability in this case.
I know many muslims that cut their beards after 9-11, sure maybe in a perfect, righteous sense, they shouldn’t have had to, but they weighed the pros and cons, took in the reality of the world they [we] live in, and made a decision.
Think of it this way – if there’s a hole in your roof and rain is pouring through, yes it’s good to find out who built the roof, and why the hole formed and figure out ways to build better roofs in the future, but you also want to fix THAT hole to stop getting wet!
I think “dotbusters” or dotcrushers or whatever they were called, were using the term symbolically rather than literally. I don’t think they were checking for bindhis before assaulting, robbing, and whatever else they did. So removing the bindhis wouldn’t solve the problem.
They’re expected to know (1) not to attack people b/c of their religion and (2) that members of the Taliban are unlikely to be standing around the USA, waiting for some vigilante to come and attack them.
As for the profile of the Sikhs, I was a founding member of SALDEF, years before 9/11, back when nobody else was doing general outreach. Since then, several newer organizations have come around, each of which does its part. However, it is probably unrealistic to expect every American to know who a Sikh is before there is a major Sikh movie star or athlete as a role model. Unlike the US, desis in general and Sikhs in particular are too few in number. And honestly, Jai, the fact that not all of the Sikhs are keshdari makes it harder since there are fewer visible examples for people to encounter.
only partly true. There was hate crime after the Iranian hostage crisis and the first Iraq war, and even between. However, hate crime did rise considerably after 9/11, and has remained higher than before.
one thing. after 9-11 a commuter train between boston and NYC was stopped and a sikh onboard was taken into custody by the authorities. there is no excuse for that.
Ennis, per my previous comment, the effort by Sikhs (and the rest of us desis) to enhance awareness must start at local community levels. Put some money and energy behind it. No need for a movie star or athlete (and Vikram Chatwal or that wacky hipster Waris do NOT count!) to help develop understanding.
They (all people who wish to live in the United States, not just whites)are expected to know (1) not to attack ANY people (2) that taking the law into ones hands is only an option when you are facing an imminent and immediate threat to lives. Law and order is just that – law and order. Attacking someone because they ‘looked’ like a terrorist, yet did not display any actions that gave an indication of immediate danger means you’re imposing on someone else’s freedom and civil liberties.
HMF –
Sikhs were pretty big targets after 9/11. At least two Sikhs were murdered in the immediate aftermath, and scores of others were harassed or beaten. As the Sikh population is only about 100,000 in the entire country, I’d say, per capita, there more incidents of hate crimes against Sikhs than any other group.
Personally, i was in countless verybal and physical altercations (mostly at bars when people drunkenly actually say the things that they wouldn’t say soberly), and the front door to my father’s practice was shot out twice.
So, what to do? Although things have generally gotten a lot better in the last couple years (but for this most recent tragedy), it is still incumbent upon the Sikh community to be more active lest the next attack(god forbid) bring on an onslaught of violence again. Although I thoroughly disagree with Prashanth on nearly every point and don’t really accept the “written in haste” apology, I do agree that we need to do more. The Sikh Colation and SALDEF are very active in their respective circles, but I think forays into pop culture break down barriers more quickly and effectively than any PSA. Many friends asked me about Bend it Like Beckham, or the guy from the Spike Lee movie and Life Aquatic. I had one girl try to pick me up by telling me that the sexiest scene in film history was when the Sikh in The English Patient let his hair down to get it on. These are the types of things that stick in peoples’ memory, create a sense of normalcy, and reach younger audiences. So, PSA, active campaigns, community festivals, forays into politics and the law are all awesome….we are definitely making steps. But, i am waiting for our own Monty Panesar to play in the NFL or NBA to make a huge impact….or perhaps an oscar worthy movie about Ranjit Singh.
Lord Have Mercy. Talk about missing the point. Mister, the whole point was the racist bastards were targetting them because they were different. You seem to have some kind of problem with Sikhs who get stabbed in the neck and shot dead by psychopaths simply because they wear their turbans and then say, please, allow me to not be stabbed in the neck and shot dead.
What an utterly fatuous line of argument. Fatuity is excusable, crassness when you go around effectively telling them to shut up and stop whining isn’t.
Interesting. But was it steadily higher than the amount of hate crime against non-turbaned, clean shaven desis? But I’m all for education, and I’d venture to say that pre-9/11, your average American didn’t even know what a Sikh was.
Something totally tangential though, the report says he’s 40 and a grandfather?!? Someone got bizay.
HAH. Ennis…as i was typing, you took the words right off my keyboard. Apparently, we think alike.
And, I didn’t know you helped found SALDEF. Thanks for your good work.
That’s totally right. I guess I was knocked unconscious and some bleeding heart liberal typed these statements, falsifying my identity:
“Anyhow, it’s not a position I’m personally in, so I’m not about yell out “stop dressing like that”” (#47)
“But I understand the frustration because ideally, it’s not a decision that one should have to make.” (#47)
“I’m not saying they should assimilate, give in, sell out their beliefs, etc” (#74) — ooo look at that, symmetery
It seems more like you’ve missed my point. But if you’d like to lump me in the intolerant, hater group, by all means go ahead.
Apu, as I pointed out, SALDEF is now a decade old. But America is large, and it is a long and slow process to enlighten people at the retail level.
Vikram also isn’t much help – he has been trimming his beard to a Don Johnson-eque scruff for a long time, and near as I can tell has stopped wearing his turban and perhaps even cut his hair. I would have asked Sant Singh the last time I saw him, but it’s not the sort of thing that it’s polite to ask somebody’s father.
ASK! ASK! 😀
Fo shizzle, ma Sizzle.
And Ennis (re: SALDEF), maximum respect!
Stop making trouble, little chickadee 😉
Hi Ennis, SALDEF sounds great, i’d like to learn more – we need more grassroots efforts – it will take time. But all true change requires hard work, participation and MONEY.
Not to mention Vikram’s friendship with Puff Daddy/P-Diddy (or as my friend says, B-Shit!). But I think young Vik still wears his color-coordinated turbans. I dig Waris though.
As for Sant – how on earth did he beat the tax cheat rap? Or did he not? Not all of our peeps do us proud.
Yes, during those periods it was since we were always a more visible target. As for education, many things have changed. Sikhs are more visible in NYC – I was once approached by a casting agent to play a Sikh taxi driver in the opening scene of a medium budget big star rom-com. But that’s a story for another day.
Anyone who can pull a trigger or swing a bat is in a position to affect outcomes…
branch dravidian – amendment, you must be in a position to systematically affect outcomes to be a “racist” – what you describe is a violent, bigoted thug. Nothing to be forgiven of course, but just being technical about the definition of racism.
Branch,
Yes but they need to break the law flagrantly in order to do it, where as those with power can affect outcomes to much less fanfare. Why? because every time a victim of racism ever suggests it, he’s accused of “playing the race card”
Ennis,
I’m curious. And this question is out of sheer curiosity, but has the “Maybe we should cut our beards and hair, out of safety concerns” ever entered the Sikh community internal dialogue? Referring to my original post, (#16) I actually did hear a Sikh man say this over a radio show. Albeit, that was much much closer to 9-11, and the Arizona gas station incident, when I had heard it. I’m curious if it has actually been discussed, or was that man an severe outlier?
HMF – well put. Systematic and institutional influence is where real racism lies, not with one-off criminals and bigoted thugs.
To your next point – i felt terrible when one of my employees awkardly put on a baseball cap over his turban 2 days after 9/11. A wonderfully sweet man, my heart broke when saw the look on his face and sulked about San Jose (as you say Anna – this was CALI!).
I, for one, have never heard any serious call for Sikhs to change their appearance. If you look to the history of Sikhs, the distinct appearance, turban and beard, was instituted to create a sense of fraternity and responsibility in the face of rampant religious persectution, conversion, and the very real danger of assimilation. The problems we face here in America are trivial in comparison.
That said – I know of people who did cut there hair and shave, and I know of people who, while still wearing the turban, severly curtailed thier every day activity because they personally could not take the pressure. Yet more (like me) started to sometimes wear baseball hats or bandanas normally reserved for sports when they went out socially just to avoid the inevitable confrontations that took place when wearing a turban. These were solely personal decisions. Plenty of others took the new hostilities they faced as a way to educate, strengthen community bonds and raise awareness levels of the Sikh identity.
I’d venture to guess that the guy on the radio was an outlier…and I think that most practicing Sikhs would roundly denounced him for opining such sentiments on public airwaves, especially given the cultural and religious significance and history of the appearance.
“Better zoning laws stop hate crimes!” and “Train culture, not car culture!” make terrible rally chants, but they’re both probably true/good ideas 🙂
Anyway, without knowing the details, I would bet each of the following are factors here:
1) The heat (crime goes up with hot weather–look it up) 2) The United State’s atrocious mental health policy. It runs along these lines: If you’re not mentally healthy, don’t ask us for treatment or insurance; cure your depression/schizophrenia/anxiety by picking yourself up by your bootstraps!” You can see why this might not be effective 😉 3) All the random propaganda you see flitting about in culture that targets Arabs/Muslims and others. In adddition to it being an unfair strategy for protecting yourself and your loved ones by loudly pointing out that you’re not the target du jour, it’s probably doomed to be ineffective in broader terms. From my limited experience, hate incidents represent a spike in tensions (usually intersecting with other things like a stolen bike or drunkenness or mental heatlh or other factors) that are built on underlying problems (competition for economic resources, racism, etc.) that are more chronic in nature and which can be seen in trends (like years of verbal or physical abuse of members of a particular community in a particular place). 4) a militaristic wartime culture–violence is in the air. For example, consider domestic violence in military families.
Sometimes, when I mention that I encountered racist spew while growing up in Northern California, I am greeted with extreme skepticism; “No way. Not in CALIFORNIA!”. Yes way, in my beloved golden state. Yet again, someone’s father/brother/grandfather almost died because of ignorance and hate.
But not, apparently, racism.
I love how people can jump on this thread and comment that we should be doing more PR and boosting our image – some say we should buy public service ads and others say we should start at the grass roots level. We’re doing what we can, people! It’s not easy!
I started a grassroots Sikh organization in the Bay Area after 9/11 and we did great things. Unfortunately, that lost momentum, especially after I left the area. There was another group that started afterwards whose main focus was PR on a more expensive level. I’m sure both groups reached people who otherwise would not have known who Sikhs were. But really, it’s probably not these people who will be attacking a Sikh in the future. We could have a Sikh Senator out there, but it wouldn’t make a difference to many of the Americans out there – especially those who would tend to commit an act of violence like this (not that it would hurt us to have representation like that).
I just had to throw that out there to ask people to think twice before just throwing out a comment like that. It’s easy to go out there and market your website or your business; it’s much harder to get out there and market your religion and the idea that you shouldn’t be attacked because of it.
If you care so much, help us! Call the Sikh Coalition, call SALDEF and ask what you can do to help. I’m sure they’re always looking for volunteers.
This happened just days after the attack on the Sikh. Shall we now ask black men to bleach their skin? Or, do we stand up for justice instead – placing the responsibility of the crime on the criminal rather than the victim?
I will say this as a turban wearing and full bearded Sikh, raised in north America: no one on this planet can take this identity away from me, nor will I ever hide it. Anyone who thinks that by somehow Sikhs will make their lives easier for themselves by shedding their identities are only fooling themselves. If the ignorant/racists leave you alone because you don’t have a turban, they’ll go after you for your brown skin.
Sikhs exist today not because they disowned their identity, but instead because they defended it under the most merciless of persecution.
Sonia Kaur,
I’m not sure if (one or two exceptions aside) people have been making “offhand” comments here — I think everyone’s just bouncing ideas around and trying to be constructive 😉
My own suggestions were based on the course of events involving the British (South) Asian community in general here in the UK over the past few years, which has obviously been semi-successful, so I was just drawing on that for inspiration.
I’ve been trying to figure out exactly why there aren’t really cases of mistaken identity for keshdhari Sikhs on any large scale here (clean-shaven Sikhs, yes absolutely, especially post-9/11), apart from the occasional incident. Maybe it’s because of the colonial connection and the greater saturation of India/Indians within the mainstream consciousness. Or maybe it’s because the only people in Britain who were perceived to wear turbans & beards were Sikhs, and there was sufficient time for that fact to gain a sufficiently high profile within the awareness of the British population in the 30+ years pre-9/11.
To respond to Ennis’ earlier point, keshdhari Sikhs are significantly less common here in Britain too these days, especially amongst the 2nd-Generation. But as I said earlier, there has been enough time, face-to-face experience, and exposure in the media for most non-desis to know that beard + turban (usually) = Sikh.
To use another analogy, pre-9/11 (and certainly pre-Satanic Verses), the average non-desi Brit didn’t really know much about Islam or the differences between the various desi communities and their respective religions, and it basically took a “major incident” to kick-start any major interest and analysis into the communities concerned and their religious/cultural background (Islam is the “flavour of the month” here in Britain for obvious reasons). So perhaps Americans will only really become aware of Sikhs (and Sikhism) on any genuine level if there is some kind of major national/international incident (either positive or negative) involving the community.
Unless, as I said in one of my previous posts, there is a breakthrough, wildly-successful coast-to-coast entertainment show on US television which either has a major Sikh character (Parminder Nagra on ER doesn’t count because it barely touched on her character’s Sikh background, apart from briefly mentioning it in the earlier episodes) or which is dominated by South Asians (in the mould of Goodness Gracious Me or The Kumars at Number 42).
Also, as a point of reference, you may be interested to know that one of the regular anchors on the most high-profile news/current affairs programme on terrestrial British television (a show called Newsnight on BBC2) is a keshdhari Sikh called Hardeep Singh Kohli. He is known for his fondness for wearing large pink turbans 😉
Just to respond briefly to the earlier question about the colour of turbans: As mentioned by some other commenters, there is no restriction on the colour worn although blue and saffron have certain connotations. Black turbans dominate here in the UK, especially amongst 2nd-Generation Sikhs if they happen to be keshdhari.