Rupinder Mohan Singh |

A watercolor painting of the Star Trek character Khan Noonien Singh that appeared in the original series episode "Space Seed" in 1967. (source: Wikia Expert Showcase)

Has Star Trek’s Khan Noonien Singh been “whitewashed”?

May 16, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

When I was a child, the mere singular mention of the word “Sikh” on a television show only strengthened my bond with a science fiction franchise that I maintained through its incarnations in film and television for decades. In 1967, the science fiction television show Star Trek introduced a new character named Khan Noonien Singh, who, according to Wikipedia, is “a genetically engineered superhuman from India who once controlled more than a quarter of the Earth during the Eugenics Wars […]

Categories: TV/Movies • Tags: Benedict Cumberbatch, Gene Roddenberry, J J Abrams, Khan Noonien Singh, Marissa Sammy, RaceBending.com, Ricardo Montalban, Star Trek, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: Into the Darkness

A taxi driver who was a victim of a stabbing speaks to the media while surrounded by supporters in August, 2010. (Seth Wenig | AP. Source: Christian Science Monitor)

Mitigating hate speech

May 15, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At a panel discussion (about hate crimes faced by Sikh Americans) organized by law students at the University of Miami last month, law professor David Abraham discusses hate speech, hate crimes and the complexities around legislation to address them: “The U.S. is at the individualist and libertarian extreme. We let Nazis march in Jewish neighborhoods, Klansmen burn crosses, and talk radio go bonkers. Responding to their own historical experiences, other countries see speech as a contribution to democracy, and by […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Arvind Singh, David Abraham, hate crime, hate crimes, Hate speech, University of Miami

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Balpreet Kaur at TEDxOhioStateUniversity. (source: YouTube)

Balpreet Kaur and the power of kindness

May 15, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Last fall, Ohio college student Balpreet Kaur became well-known for her response to a photo of her that was surreptitiously posted to the social website Reddit: The object of the photo was an attempt at mockery. Among the first 100 responses to the posting on Reddit were harsh and derogatory comments about Balpreet Kaur’s facial hair, gender, ethnicity, and religion. And, what began as mockery on one specific website was beginning to spread virally on the internet. Balpreet Kaur’s response […]

Categories: Interfaith, Profiles • Tags: Balpreet Kaur, Ohio, Ohio State University, Reddit, TED, TEDx, Women in Sikhism

President Barack Obama honors the 2013 National Association of Police Organizations TOP COPS award winners during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Saturday, May 11, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Oak Creek, WI, police officers honored by President Obama

May 14, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At an event at the White House on Saturday, President Barack Obama paid tribute to the country’s best police officers during 2013, including the eight who responded to the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek last August: I already talked about one of this year’s Top Cops, Brian Murphy, in my State of the Union address. When a gunman opened fire on a temple in Wisconsin and Brian was the first to arrive, he did […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Barack Obama, hate crimes, Lt. Brian Murphy, Oak Creek, Officer Sam Lenda, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Top Cops of 2013, White House, Wisconsin

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"Geography of Hate" map showing concentrations of hate-based tweets on Twitter from June 2012 to April 2013. (source: Floating Sheep)

Quote of the Day

May 14, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“FBI experts believe the Internet continues to serve as the primary radicalization instrument, used to recruit teenagers and young adults into the radical skinhead movement,” the warrant says. — A recently-released document by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reveals that Wade Michael Page was active on white supremacist websites and social media prior to his attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek last August, in which he murdered six Sikhs, severely wounding another and a police […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Quote of the Day, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wade Michael Page, White supremacy, Wisconsin

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Gilbert Garcia has been arrested in the assault on 82-year-old Piara Singh on May 5 in Fresno, California. (source: Crime Voice)

Rethinking the hate crime villain

May 14, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After the attack on 82-year-old Piara Singh in Fresno, California, nine days ago, Preeti Kaur (on her blog The Longest There) considers the suspected perpetrator and delves into the meaning of “hate crime”: The term hate-crime is a peculiar term. Others have discussed the definition of hate-crimes and need for such a delineation, of course, but for me its peculiarity is that in the act of describing a hate-crime as a hate-crime, the biggest offense becomes the hate, and the crime […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: California, Fresno, Gilbert Garcia, hate crimes, Piara Singh, Preeti Kaur, The Longest There

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New York fashion designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia in "Waris Ahluwalia's Long Road." (source: YouTube)

Your weekend Waris

May 10, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A bit of New York designer/actor Waris Ahluwalia for your weekend. Go explore. (See previous posts about Waris Ahluwalia here.)

Categories: Profiles, TV/Movies • Tags: ASMALLWORLD, House of Waris, Waris Ahluwalia

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Scene from "Neel" by David Woo (source: YouTube)

US DoJ settles with Georgia school district in case of bullied Sikh student

May 10, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In Georgia, the DeKalb County School District in Stone Mountain recently reached a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice in the case of a Sikh student who was harassed and bullied in a middle school in their district: The complaint said school officials did nothing to help the boy, who had allegedly been subjected to verbal and physical harassment because of his Sikh faith. According to the complaint, a student had tried to cut the boy’s hair, he […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: bullying, Civil Rights Act of 1964, David Woo, DeKalb County School District, Georgia, Neel, Sikh Coalition, Stone Mountain, Title IV, United States Department of Justice

"Bias Motivation Information" section of the FBI's Hate Crime Incident Report 1-699. (source: FBI)

Hate-motivated attack on Piara Singh emphasizes need for tracking

May 10, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After yet another hate crime against a Sikh American — this time on an 82-year-old man in Fresno, California — Simran Kaur of the Sikh Coalition raises the issue of the absence of tracking by the FBI of hate crimes against Sikhs: You read that right. Although Sikhs continue to experience hate crimes because of their distinct religious identity, the FBI has no distinct category to track such crimes. While hate crimes against other racial and religious groups are tracked, […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Resources • Tags: California, FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Form 1-699, Fresno, hate crimes, Piara Singh, Sikh Coalition, Simran Kaur

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Author Archives: Rupinder Mohan Singh

Has Star Trek’s Khan Noonien Singh been “whitewashed”?

Mitigating hate speech

Balpreet Kaur and the power of kindness

Oak Creek, WI, police officers honored by President Obama

Quote of the Day

Rethinking the hate crime villain

Your weekend Waris

US DoJ settles with Georgia school district in case of bullied Sikh student

Hate-motivated attack on Piara Singh emphasizes need for tracking