Despite the central air in my apartment, last night was one of those nights when it was cooler outside than in. Because I live on the ground floor, I can’t leave my windows open while I’m out, and it gets stuffy sometimes. I threw open the windows, had dinner, and sat down in my favorite chair with my laptop in my lap.
All of a sudden, I heard voices yelling, screaming, somewhere really close, like my apartment had been broken into. I pushed the laptop aside, jumped up and scanned the room, startled, my heart racing, totally confused.
Then I heard racial epithets (fucking Bin Laden terrorist, etc), and laughter. Two white teenagers (in this town I’ve only encountered racist hostility from white folks, but that’s a matter of a whole nother post) had snuck up to my open windows, yelled, and run away. I hadn’t seen them because my lights were on and it was dark outside.
I walked up to my windows, cussed the kids out, slammed the windows shut and glowered, my tranquility disturbed, my sense of safety in my own home penetrated.
I remembered that, whenever I had lived on the first floor in the past, one roomate always kept a baseball bat handy to … repell unwanted visitors.
That was the end of the incident. It wasn’t a hate crime, I didn’t feel threatened or menaced, nothing really bad happened. It was just some high-spirited teenagers out for some racist fun. Still, it might be prudent to keep a bat around.
Sorry to hear about the incident, I can never imagine how it feels to be mocked in the country you were born I wasn’t born here but things like this have happened in the past and they just leave a bad taste. Thankfully I live in New York City so the frequency is much lower and yes the bat is great idea 🙂
C’mon you can do better than that. Be a part of the militia as per the second amendment.
That’s just it. It wasn’t a big deal, I’m used to it. I posted the story because I’ve noticed some naivite amongst some readers who seem to assume that all of America is like NJ or big city CA, and it’s simply not. There’s a level of overt racism that is present on a regular basis.
A cop suggested that to me when I moved in. It’s pretty easy to own a gun in the midwest, if you live outside of a major city. Still, this was the first incident in my home. Things happen far more frequently when I am out and about, either on foot or in the car (most often when I’m on foot and exposed). Given that I’ve been pulled over for driving while brown before, a firearm in my car would probably be a step in the wrong direction.
Try to get them on video, I know its easier said than done. Maybe set the bait by sitting outside with some turbanned friends. Get the police involved. If they are 18 or over be sure to post online and divulge their names & addresses. Destroy their economic futures and shame their parents. No amount of outreach or community service/lecture at a gurdwara is going to turn these trogs….scorched earth is the way to go
I agree with the second amendment comment. You never know. Emboldened by this little escapade, they may try something more serious next time. Sorry you had to go through this.
Instead of cussing them out, you should have just ignored them and not given them the satisfaction of seeing you get upset.
After how many years of vipassna was Ennis supposed to let this violation pass without comment? They invaded his space. I am sure the law wouldn’t agree but from a moral perspective he would have been fully justified responding with non-lethal force. Time to bury Gandhi, the man was the 20th century’s greatest fraud (i.e. he was simply around when Brits decided to give India independence)
6 · alpha said
I’ve had people tell me to ignore bullies before and I’ve never found this piece of advice helpful at all. Many argue that all bullies want is to see a rise out of you–and while that may be partly the case, in my experience all it’s done is make it easier for the bully to attack again because they fear no retribution.
Whether you are in NYC or not, it can happen anywhere in the U.S. My brother (who is a turbanned Sikh) and I had an incident in New Brunswick, NJ last summer. I went to Rutgers-New Brunswick for college and lived there for 3 years. It’s not only a diverse area, there is a strong Sikh presence on campus. But one night last summer, right by the train station, 3 guys came down the steps and decided to hurl insults at my brother as we walked by. It was actually a group of 8 to 10 of us, but they didn’t care. It shook me up, not because it’s never happened before, but because I would have never happened somewhere I considered a comfort-zone or safe-place.
I’m sorry you had to deal with that Ennis. It’s so lame.
Do you live in Texas by any chance? If so, you could always take the Joe Horn approach and shoot them to protect your property 😀
Although I do agree with the posters who say that ahimsa isn’t the best solution in cases like these
Shalu, I agree that with bullies you should fight back. But this is a completely different situation. You can’t fight back because they’ve run away.
louiecypher, cut out the Gandhi crap. Cussing is useless. You’re an idiot if you think that is going to deter them in the future.
I’ve started to cuss out racists because I think they’re expecting me to take it and look humiliated and dejected. They’re not expecting me to get pissed off, they usually back down at that point.
Recently, my friend (turbanned Sikh) had his car vandalised and some white college kids broke into his apartment and stole his PS3 and Wii. We live in a ‘safe’ college town in the midwest so these sort of crimes are very, very rare. It was probably a hate crime…. but why oh why, did these silly white kids have to steal his PS3 and Wii??! No more Fifa 07, GTA4 with Raj (name changed) :((((((( weep
11 · alpha said
But if they’ve run away, they won’t notice if Ennis was upset, right? So then did you tell him to ignore them and not give them the satisfaction of seeing him upset?
12 · Ennis said
Been true in my experience too! Not sure of the mindset/psychology of the offenders in such cases, but showing a will to fight back helps.
On a side note, I find college white kids and affulent whites to be the least racist and open minded (regardless of their location). Hispanics and African-Americans are the most racist people in Amreeka, no doubt.
I’ve started to cuss out racists because I think they’re expecting me to take it and look humiliated and dejected. They’re not expecting me to get pissed off, they usually back down at that point.
You know I am all for this, of course. When you get that gun, let me know, so we can hit the range together.
TheBrownChamp: i find that Latinos and blacks are more open about their views, but that many college going/affluent whites are just as racist, only they know how to come across as PC. i personally think that immigrants tend to be the most racis; just look at Indians 😀
But if they’ve run away, they won’t notice if Ennis was upset, right? So then did you tell him to ignore them and not give them the satisfaction of seeing him upset?
Ummm. If they run away, and you yell out curses to them, they will hear you. D’uh.
BrownChamp,
Who do you think the racial stereotypes ultimately come from? I understand that you might really have had those experiences, but that generalization totally does not jibe w my reality.
Did you call the cops? Oh, and I do like the idea of keeping a bat handy. Never know when it might come in handy.
Naw, they have their hands full with meth-heads. If I had felt threatened or menaced, I might have, but this was just being yelled at in my apartment.
It’s not a big deal, but I’m sharing it because I think it’s easy to forget that this is part of the background noise of life in parts of America.
Well, there are always going to be people who don’t like you. My approach is to ignore them.
But, always look after your safety too. Buy yourself a shotgun, it will come handy if somebody decides to physically attack you.
Talwar
louiecypher
That is not true. Verbal insults call for verbal replies, only physical attacks morally justify physical replies.
ROFLMAO I agree with you there, indeed I used almost the same words to describe ‘Bapu'(LOL) in ‘Leaving Uganda’ thread just a couple days ago. It was actually Subash Chandra Bose, Azad Hind Fauj and naval mutineers who won Independence for India.
As was said by another commenter, I think the issue is not that one group is “less racist” than the other, but that some groups are more comfortable discussing their prejudices. In my experience, desis can be quite racist when in the company of each other.
Ennis, Were they kids from you apt complex? Is it gated ? Are there a lot of desis in your complex? Was it similar to the prank where kids run around ringing(shouting) every doorbell(desi apt) . Just wondering whether they were breaking some more laws.
This safety-in-numbers-so-lets-be-obnoxious behavior is prevalent even here in so. cal. I hope they grow out of it. Quickly.
You say you didn’t see them yet you state their ‘ white ‘ race as a fact. I respect you as a blogger but I have always been dubious of your ‘ white ‘ racism claims in the Midwest. Very improbable. Your claims of such brazen white racism square neither with my ten-year experience in this country nor with that of most other browns, particularly in the Midwest Such name calling and cussing usually comes from black kids. A preponderance of anecdotes support this un-PC assertion.
And yes I have been waiting for that ‘ whole another post ‘ for quite sometime now because you always bring up such white racism you encounter in the Midwest but never provide the details.I hope you aren’t just getting offended by a seven year old white girl staring at your turban nonstop.
Those teenaged skinhead/kkk/idiot punks or whatever they were, are complete losers. Unfortunately, you never know if they are armed with their daddy’s handgun or whatever. A baseball bat or knife would not be much of a challenge for those idiots if they are armed and decided to attack. But you make a good point as a brown individual, you might not want to be caught with firearms, even if it is legal and registered etc. These skinhead types act on impulses and are not known for being rational. Good luck to you and hope no more of these dumba&&es come your way (or for any of us for that matter).
I think as unemployment grows, basic necessities get more and more expensive, you will see a rise in racism and xenophobia. Some misguided individuals need a scapegoat to blame for the economic mess courtesy of the Bush administration. I am not sure if there will be a complete economic meltdown, but things don’t look too rosy.
Another vote here in favor of concealed carry, especially in light of the recent SCOTUS decision on the 2nd amendment. I come from a very stereotypically traditional South Indian Hindu vegetarian, etc, etc, family. Many members of my family carry handguns, mom included, although we haven’t convinced dad to do so yet. Its one of the things that makes this country great.
And to Ennis, who’s worried about getting caught driving with a handgun: Check your state’s laws. As long as you’re legal and have the proper paperwork, you’re safe.
I didn’t see their faces up close, but they had turned their heads towards me as I came to the window and they ran away. And out here, all of my incidents have been with whites. In New York City growing up, things were different.
Ha! No, sadly, it’s far worse than that. It’s curses and epithets and threats. The incident last night was almost too minor to mention, as was the story in Chicago of the older white man coming up to me and calling me a “Fucking terrorist” as he walked by. No, the stuff that gets me is the stuff which makes me feel physically insecure, like the kids discussing how they were going to knock my turban off, or the youths in cars when I’m on foot, etc.
I’m a New Yorker. You can’t get a rise out of me by calling me a punk.
These were the exterior windows which faced out onto a public thoroughfare. No other desis in my complex. The entire community is pretty damned white, as is much of the midwest out of the major cities and accompanying suburbs / college towns.
Cops get jumpy when they see a gun. Amadou Diallo got shot for holding a wallet, I’d rather not push my chances especially when I’ve been stopped for DWB already. Thus far the cops have been pretty courteous, but I’d rather not have them feel threatened.
you know what racist folks really don’t like being called?… racist. (or ignorants, an ignorant). try it. that truly pisses them off.
Ennis, That is really horrible that you had to experience this!
On the other hand, the only racial incident I’ve experienced in the past five years is a bunch of little black kids throwing stones at me–I used some Anglo-Saxon epithets to curse out their caregiver (mother?) and moved on.
It is deeply disturbing to be treated this way.
If you have a state issued concealed permit, that information is pulled up when the cops run your plates. In some ways cops feel better knowing the person has already had a background check run by having a legit permit.
Good idea.
Be outside, let them see you, go in, have window open and webcam/cellcam ready.
OK, this disturbs me, why did you curse out their mother/caregiver?
B/c she was responsible for the kids throwing stones at me?! If she isn’t, who is? They were pretty young, young enough that I wouldn’t hit them. What am I missing here?
Do you know how hard it is to control just one child, what to speak of two or three or four???
Give the woman a break!
Unless she ordered them to stone you, she is not at fault.
Why are they throwing rocks at me, and saying nasty things, unless she has taught them this, or at least condoned it? The fish rots from the head!
You should have yelled back you are Hindu, and not a terrorist. You must wear your markers on your sleeve. We shouldn’t feel guilty about Bin Laden.
So you think they saw their mom throwing rocks at and calling people names???
Come on! Kids are mean, in general. They learn alot of sh*t in school.
My white friends love me b/c I’m “solid” on the anti-terror front, don’t you worry about me!
Nobody in my family throws stones at other people b/c they look different, and if they did do that, they would be shunned. So, yes, we are better than the kids (and their mother) throwing rocks at me.
wow ennis – in comment 30, i’m surprised by your restraint.
ping ping doesn’t believe this happens, especally from white people? he says this, because even though i’m guessing he’s not a sikh or a sardar, he hasn’t seen it? as another sardar in the midwest, i dare him to walk in a sardar’s shoes for a month and then attempt to type the same post with a straight face. as ennis has shared but one anecdote, let me elaborate.
admittedly, things have gotten FAR better in the last 2-3 years than they were immediately after 9/11, but just two weeks ago, i was repeatedly accosted as “bin laden” by a bunch of drunk white guys on the walk home from a downtown restaurant in a major midwest city…and i was walking with 2 rather burly white guys. that was maybe the 5th or 6th such incident this year.
In the 3 years after 9/11, i couldn’t even keep track of all the verbal assaults, threats, indirect comments, hostile stares and lack of service every night i went out on the town. i do vividly remember the time an ENTIRE fraternity house and their guests (all white kids) threw empty beer cans and trash at me and chanted “f*ck you, bin laden” on my walk home from a football game; later that night being singled out of a very large crowd of revelers (it was a very significant football victory) by a lone riot police who pushed his way through teh crowd and blasted me in the face with pepper spray and then my two friends who protested ignoring everyone else (he was decked out in gear, didn’t know if he was white, but probably); getting kicked out of a bar after a group of other patrons objected to my presence; the time a hot blonde girl i was talking to at a bar was handed a napkin by a group of white guys reading “REWARD: $25 Million;” the time i was denied a summer sales job at a small, white managed company because my appearance “wouldn’t go over well with customers” (i’m a libertarian, and even though i was furious, chose not to take any legal action); being punched in the face, accompanied by “bin laden” slurs for a ridiculously slight indiscretion(this time, by a black guy); being kicked out of a midwest city’s traffic courtroom for wearing a turban by an old and hostile white judge despite my pleas that it was religious attire and that i was respectfully wearing a suit unlike everyone else in the room (this resulted in my complaint and disciplinary action against the judge); being twice pulled over by cops for going 2 mph over the speed limit and watching in my side view mirrors as white cops approached my car with their hands on their holsters (resulting in mere warnings, thankfully, especially since i had target shooting rifles and pistols in my trunk both times – if they found those, i might be in guantanamo). if i think harder, i’m sure i could think of more incidents – oh yea, getting hit in the back of the head by a full coke can thrown from a car driving by (thankfully i was wearing my turban, which padded my head), my dad’s practice’s glass front door getting shot out twice by a shotgun in an almost entirely white, midwest town. like i said, i could think of more and more, but it’s hard to even remember them all. honestly, unless an incident was very severe, i didn’t even get worked up – it wasn’t worth it. my friends always did though, as they were often in disbelief (except for my close friends, who witnessed this stuff regularly).
comment 43 continued…
in the last 2-3 years, as i’ve attended professional school and lived in a larger midwest city, the incidents are far less frequent, but still take place. there are comments or the middle finger from people driving by, or comments made by drunk bar goers. but, what concerns me most is the fact that i have to “win over” recruiters at major companies/firms with which i interview in an industry that is very white and insular. i detect some discomfort from about a quarter of them, and have to drop a line about liking to go to happy hour with coworkers to ease any tension and give them an impression that i’m totally normal. also, i’ve managed to befriend many people at my school, some whom were comfortable enough to share that they were initially wary of me (because of my appearance and perceived fundamentalism) before they heard of my “coolness” from other students (small body) and got to know me. [i loved their honesty because it was revealing and because i’ve always strived to win over individuals one at a time.]
finally, because ping ping mentioned it, what might be most annoying is not the little white girl who might stare at you on the street – it’s the little white girl’s mom who grabs her kid and tries to shelter her and offers a wary stare after she catches sight of me, who’s either standing next to or approaching. as far as black people are concerned, i’ve gotten a fair amount of flak from them in the past- they tend to be a lot more expressive or vocal. but at the same time, while incidents with white people have persisted, incidents with black people have tapered off big time – as if the idea of a commonality of oppression has finally been realized. or maybe, to stereotype broadly, they like bhangra (in case you’re humorless, i’m joking). but to acknowledge that it happens more frequently with white people isn’t to dismiss that it happens with black folks too.
my reaction to all this? if i have a talent, it’s running my mouth and making people feel dumb. i can’t help but wonder what i would have done if i wasn’t fluent in english or didn’t sound like a red neck. first, there’s the shock that i speak english at all, and then it’s the content. there are times when i might reason, but normally a statement like “hey bin laden, go home!” might earn a “nah, brah. how bout i go to your trailer and plug your mom in her behind (but more explicit)” it’s a lot funner. often, this will make peeps feel like idiots in front of their friends, though sometimes, things escalate. it’s the burden of having a toweled hot-head, i suppose. so basically ping ping, you are an idiot and don’t really know what you’re talking about. i’m actually wary or posting this long, personal comment in response to yours because your thoughts are so unbelievably ignorant and i don’t want to justify them with a reaction. but, in the event there are others who might not understand what many midwestern sikhs have gone through, i must…especially since i’ve discovered that often our west coast and east coast sardar brethren can hardly believe how bad it truly was, and how bad it can still be.
Sim –
that’s far worse than I’ve faced, but I also didn’t move to the midwest until somewhat recently, after the post 9/11 racism had cooled off. I had only lived on the coasts until then.
as for why I was restrained with ping ping … his disbelief isn’t worth getting worked up over. I know what I’ve seen. If somebody wants to disbelieve me, they can go ahead and do so. I don’t tell these stories to attract pity, just to help people understand what goes on. It’s only worth talking to people who have an open mind.
Ennis-
things are far far better. the most severe incidents i experienced occurred in the 2, maybe 3, years after 9/11. but, sentiments persist. also, i go out quite a bit, and thus encounter many drunk people who are more inclined to share their ignorant 2 cents. i’m also average sized. having spoken to other sikh/sardar friends, if they don’t go out much, they’re obviously not exposed to overt sentiments, and if they’re bigger dudes, people are less inclined to run their mouths.
just one additional thought – despite all this stuff (and a fair amount of racism/xenophobia before 9/11), my life is pretty normal. the vast majority of midwesterners are great, and i don’t dwell on this stuff at all. i doubt most of the people i know are even aware that sikhs (or me) experience[d] such hostilities since it wouldn’t naturally occur to them and i rarely mention it happens (unless relevant). just gotta keep our heads up and fight the good fight. and cuss out dumba**es we encounter.
Sad to read about what you guys have to put up with. Can we really call this racism? It sounds more like turbanism. Not that there’s any justification for that.
So Sim is saying these are not just turban legends 🙂 In my 8 years in the Bay Area, I have been lucky not to have faced any overt hostility, racial or otherwise. Maybe there have been covert ones, but (fortunately) I have perhaps been too dense to detect those. Edwards was right about the two America’s.
muses aloud
Ennis, that’s really rough. And Sim, I can’t even imagine what your experiences was like, or what it was to like to live in post 9-11 USA. I haven’t been discriminated much, or hardly have experienced it, that I know of, but there was a time that I was turned away for a job application I suspect because of my race. And in highschool there were these kids who thought it was trendy to be right wing populists, but I mostly made fun of them. They were cowards because they would always claim in company that they ‘had nothing against foreigners’ but if they were alone with foreigners they would call them names. I thought it was pretty stupid, because at least have the guts to stand up for your beliefs! And they were a bit bizarre as well because they would wear Doc Martens and clothing symbolizing racism/white power(like Lonsdale, though I’m sure if they actually wore shirts proclaiming white power they school would’ve suspended them pretty fast) but then own DVDs of Jorgen Raymann(comedian originally from Suriname) and Najib Amhali(Dutch=Moroccan comedian). I shall never understand people!
39 · Gujju said
47 · Seahawks fan said
Woo! Flashback!
I’m not Sikh and don’t have a turban, but I do have a beard. I’ve lost count of the number of people (all races and ethnicities, desis included) who have thought I was Muslim just because I was brown and bearded. Once I was walking around with a group of other desis, when this group of kids spots us from across the street, crosses over, and the loudest of the lot starts asking “Hey! You guys Muslim?”. No cusses, just a persistent, strident, and unnecessary query about religious practices. They went away a couple of blocks later, but the people I was with specifically asked me not to walk front and center, since “my beard made everyone look Muslim”. (For purposes of demographic information, all the desis were non-Muslim and DBD (including me), and all except me were beard-free. The kids were African-American, of high-school age or younger, all dressed like they had families (i.e., not street kids).)
Anyway, my point to Seahawks Fan is that such attacks need not be targeted specifically at turbans, and that when one of us is attacked either for being turbanned or Muslim or whatever, the attacker generally doesn’t know or care much for specifics beyond “brown”.
In turn, this implies that defenses like what Gujju suggested (“Hey I may be brown but I’m Hindu”) are terrible at all levels (unless it was an attempt at irony and my irony detector was broken).