September 2013

Screen shot of Walmart's website taken on September 27, 2013, in which they are selling a Halloween costume that includes a turban and beard on a man wearing military-style clothing. (Source: Walmart)

Walmart pulls turban/beard terrorist costume

September 30, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Walmart has ceased sale of a controversial Halloween costume called the “Turban Beard Adult Halloween Instant Costume,” a fake turban and beard that was promoted using a likeness of Osama bin Laden. According to the Sikh Coalition, who lobbied the retailer on Friday to stop selling the product, RiteAid has also agreed to stop selling the product as well. The Sikh Coalition has also been in contact with retailers Sears and Amazon, and the supplier of the costume, Fun World, […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Halloween costume, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Osama bin Laden, Sikh Coalition, Turban Beard Adult Halloween Costume, Walmart

"Cpl. Simranpreet Lamba receives congratulations at his promotion ceremony on Joint Base Lewis-McChord Friday, Sept. 27. 2013." (Photo: Adam Ashton | News-Tribune)

Picture of the Day: Breaking the camouflage ceiling

September 30, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Formerly Specialist Simranpreet Lamba, the US Army’s only enlisted solider in a turban and beard was promoted last Friday to the rank of Corporal in the US Army: Lamba hopes his promotion will show “there’s nothing about being Sikh, about our turban and our beard that can stop us from excelling in the Army,” he said. Read more at The News-Tribune.

Categories: Civil Rights, Picture of the Day • Tags: Employment Discrimination, Simran Lamba, Simranpreet Lamba, United States, United States Armed Forces, US Army, US military

Walmart Inappropriate Halloween Costume of the Day (UPDATED)

September 27, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Mega-retailer Walmart has encountered protest and poor publicity in its recent offerings of Halloween costumes this season. A few days ago, the national chain was heavily criticized for selling inappropriate costumes that sexualized young children, including a “Naughty Leoapard” outfit that was then pulled from shelves. A discovery by Twitter user @naunihalpublic brings to light another “costume” being offered by Walmart (pictured above), this time seeking to profit from racist stereotypes. The “Turban Beard Adult Halloween Instant Costume” comes complete […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Picture of the Day • Tags: Halloween costume, Turban Beard Adult Halloween Costume, Walmart

"Terrorist" spray-painted on a wall at the Sikh Gurdwara of Riverside, in Jurupa Valley, California. (Source: PEBloggers)

The “t-word”

September 26, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After the apparent hate-motivated attack on Dr. Prabhjot Singh last weekend in New York, I wrote an essay that was published by The Revealer today about the emergence of the word “terrorist” as a racial epithet, but one that carries dangerous consequences for its target: …what is apparent is that the word has now become a racial epithet – it is often directed to innocent people who exhibit certain physical features, rather than used as a descriptor of a person’s […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: New York, Prabhjot Singh, racial slurs, t-word, The Revealer

Disorder in the court: injustice in Mississippi’s justice system

September 26, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) describes the mistreatment of Jagjeet Singh, a Sikh truck driver from California, by the state of Mississippi’s justice system. Police officers and the judge responsible for his case not only failed to recognize Sikh articles of faith, but also harassed and discriminated against him based on their ignorance of these articles. It began with the police officers who arrested Jagjeet Singh in January of this year after he experienced a flat tire while driving […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: court room, Jagjeet Singh, MDOT, Michigan, Mississippi, Pike County, Turban

Prabhjot Singh. (Source: Columbia University)

Sikh man attacked in apparent hate crime in New York

September 23, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The news spread very quickly yesterday that another Sikh American has been attacked in what appears to be a bias-based assault. Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a Sikh physician and professor at Columbia University, was attacked in Harlem, New York, on Saturday night by a mob of young men on bicycles who issued epithets such as “Osama” and “terrorist” during their attack. Dr. Singh was taken to hospital and discharged on Sunday with a fractured jaw and other injuries. “We heard ‘get […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Columbia University, Harlem, hate crimes, New York, Prabhjot Singh

“Sikhs are the Michael Jordan of getting searched at the airport”

September 20, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIBlmD3-KtY On the television show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell (airing on the FXX network), Hari Kondabolu discusses the TSA’s Pre-Check program, which — for an $85 dollar fee — allows pre-screened enrollees to receive an expedited inspection process at selected airports across the country. Kondabolu suggests that this program does not go far enough in addressing the racial profiling experienced by many Sikh and South Asian travelers (and anecdotal evidence from several Sikhs recently suggests that racial profiling […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Humor • Tags: Hari Kondabolu, Pre-check, Racial profiling, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, W. Kamau Bell

"Sohan Singh Bhakna, second from the right, was arrested and jailed for his role in the Ghadar Partys abortive revolt against British rule in India. The former St. Johns mill worker, a major organizer and leader of the party, is shown here in 1938 at Amritsar Railway Station." (Photo: Kesar Singh, Courtesy of Amarjit Chandan Collection. Source: Portland Tribune)

Picture of the Day: Sohan Singh Bhakna

September 19, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article in the Portland Tribune traces the origins of the Ghadar Party movement to Oregon after a group of laborers from Punjab demanded justice for the attacks upon their community by racists mobs in 1910. The movement sought to promote revolution in India from British rule: Though there wound up being only one person convicted, the fight-back was a turning point for the Punjabi community here, Ogden says. New activist leaders emerged, including mill worker Sohan Singh Bhakna and […]

Categories: Picture of the Day • Tags: Astoria, Bruce La Brack, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, Sohan Singh Bhakna

Immigration as art

September 18, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In an interview with The Atlantic, author Edwidge Danticat offers a perspective on the immigrant experience — that of artistic creation (via @simranik): My parents spent their entire lives in Haiti before they left. They didn’t know much about the United States except that, at that time, there were opportunities there. They basically packed two suitcases and came. That experience of touching down in a totally foreign place is like having a blank canvas: You begin with nothing, but stroke […]

Categories: Art, Reflections • Tags: Edwidge Danticat, Immigration

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Monthly Archives: September 2013