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“Know Your Rights” forum in Sacramento, CA this weekend

July 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Sikh Temple Sacramento is collaborating with SALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund) to host a “Know Your Rights” forum this Sunday, July 29: The event is free and is a good opportunity for Sikh and other residents of the area to educate themselves about their civil rights. The official press release is below.

Categories: Civil Rights, Events • Tags: California, Know Your Rights, Sacramento, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, West Sacramento

The search for tolerance in the southwest

July 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

KPBS is broadcasting a series about the “Search of Tolerance” in the southwest. A recent piece in this series highlights the issue of hate crimes in San Antonio, Texas: [Ravpreet] Singh is also from India and a naturalized citizen. But this 38-year-old San Antonio realtor is not a Muslim. He’s a Sikh. Typically, Sikhs have long hair, beards and wear turbans. They are often victims of hate crimes by people who think they are Muslims. And in that sense, Singh […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crimes, KPBS, Ravpreet Singh, San Antonio, Texas

Lessons learned in NY and the CA Workplace Religious Freedom Act

July 26, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The New York Times published an editorial last month about the workplace discrimination case involving the city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority and their Sikh and Muslim employees: This settlement should have been reached years ago. By dragging things out so long, the M.T.A. has deepened the sense of injury in the Sikh and Muslim communities. Prominent in the Justice case was Kevin Harrington, a subway train operator and a Sikh who wears a turban. After the 9/11 attacks, he was commended […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: AB1964, California, Metropolitan Transit Authority, MTA, New York, New York Times, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

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Historian identifies Oregon’s forgotten Sikhs

July 23, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Johanna Ogden, in the Center for Columbia River History, brings together data from a variety of sources to map the Punjabi – and predominantly, Sikh – communities that lived along Oregon’s portion of the Columbia River at the turn of the century. In doing so, she sees evidence of the framing of early Sikh Americans as the “other”: Historical silences occur through the exercise of shared assumptions and work in devastatingly simple and effective ways. White pioneers are Oregon Country’s […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Resources • Tags: Columbia River, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, Punjabi, Sikh diaspora

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Applications invited for Junior Sikh Coalition leadership program, due July 25, 2012

July 19, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

If you are a Sikh high school or college student in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut and are interested in working to help your community, the Junior Sikh Coalition leadership program might be for you: Junior Sikh Coalition members gain valuable skills and training in youth leadership and will have multiple opportunities to utilize these skills within their communities and the Sikh Coalition network. In the past, youth members have led community organizing campaigns, organized anti-bullying conferences, participated in […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events • Tags: Connecticut, Junior Sikh Coalition, New Jersey, New York, Sikh Coalition

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Xenophobia, by any other name

July 17, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A commenter writes in response to my post on “Sikhophobia”: Sikhophobia would be an appropriate term if the person who has the phobia knew anything about Sikhs. I think Turbanphobia might be more like it. The folks who have the phobia are not bad people, it is the lack of knowledge and their fear that kicks in. The only way, this will work in our favor if someone in NBC, CBS or ABC hires a Turbaned Sikh to play a […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes

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Presidential Town Hall discussing API Issues on July 21st

July 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

APIAVote (Asian Pacific Islander Vote) is a national organization that aims to increase the civic participation of the Asian American/Pacific Islander community. On July 21, the organization is holding a town hall meeting in which the presidential nominees from both major parties in this election cycle have been invited to discuss issues important to the Asian/Pacific Islander Americans. According to SALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund), one of the event’s sponsors: Hear the campaigns of the Presidential candidates, President […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Politics • Tags: APIAVote, Asian Pacific Islander Vote, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Presidential Town Hall, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund

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Respecting diversity in workplace also good for employers

July 12, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

David Briggs, of the Association of Religion Data Archives, writes an article about the benefits to employers when respecting religious diversity in the workplace. Often, employers are reluctant to acknowledge their employees’ faith in the workplace, but Briggs suggests that this may have a negative affect on productivity and morale: Researchers say more studies need to be done, but past work showing positive relations between faith and better physical and mental health indicate those same benefits could extend from factory […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: AB1964, Association of Religion Data Archives, California, David Briggs, Diversity, Employment, Mariko Yamada, Workplace Religious Freedom Act, WRFA

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Let’s call it what it is: “Sikhophobia”

July 11, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A number of different American communities have been impacted by Islamophobia, and practitioners of the Sikh religion make up one of the most adversely affected minority groups. The distinctive physical appearance of typical Sikh males in particular — brown skin, turban, beard — correlates with the stereotypical images of terrorists projected in western media. Scholars have recently described this perceived relationship as a racialization of religious identity. This process has led to a conflation of Sikhs and Muslims, and therefore, […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Brampton, California, Canada, Elk Grove, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Fresno, hate crimes, Huffington Post, Islamophobia, Michigan, Ontario, Sikhophobia, Simran Jeet Singh, Sterling, Sterling Heights, Virginia

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: Civil Rights

“Know Your Rights” forum in Sacramento, CA this weekend

The search for tolerance in the southwest

Lessons learned in NY and the CA Workplace Religious Freedom Act

Historian identifies Oregon’s forgotten Sikhs

Applications invited for Junior Sikh Coalition leadership program, due July 25, 2012

Xenophobia, by any other name

Presidential Town Hall discussing API Issues on July 21st

Respecting diversity in workplace also good for employers

Let’s call it what it is: “Sikhophobia”