Civil Rights | American Turban

The case for “mistaken identity”

January 20, 2016 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In an article published in Lawfare, law professor Dawinder S. Sidhu offers an coincidental counterpoint to Monday’s post about the concept of “mistaken identity” and its use to explain hate crimes in which Sikh Americans are victims. Professor Sidhu finds that dismissing mistaken identity arguments is problematic and counter-productive to addressing hate crimes affecting the Sikh and Muslim communities in the post-9/11, post-Paris and post-San Bernardino environment.

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Dawinder S. Sidhu, hate crimes, Islamophobia, Lawfare, mistaken identity

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"A new problem for Uncle Sam." Political cartoon c. 1910 (source: Echoes of Freedom)

Let’s expunge “mistaken identity” from our vocabulary, first

January 18, 2016 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“Mistaken identity” has become the de facto explanation for hate crimes perpetrated against members of the Sikh American community, the logic being that Sikhs are being targeted because their articles of faith — particularly the turban, men’s beard, and brown skin — are confused by attackers for identifiers of Muslims, the latter of whom are being confused as terrorists. Both law enforcement and Sikh community leaders have defaulted to this explanation, pointing to post-9/11 backlash as the causal motivation for […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Donald Trump, hate crimes, John McCain, mistaken identity, Uncle Sam, White supremacy, xenophobia

The doctor will see your race now

August 28, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent episode of healthcare of a family member, we observed a healthcare provider introducing herself to the patient, announcing herself in a loud, pronounced voice. “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?” She said this very loudly this in a hospital room after our family member just had surgery and was in a vulnerable state. It was not something we appreciated, especially since our family member has lived in the west in upwards of 40 years and was well-versed in English. It […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reports/Studies • Tags: diversity training, Health care, healthcare, racial bias, Racism, unconscious bias

USCIRF 2015 Annual Report addresses religious freedom of Sikhs in India

July 9, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In its 2015 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) continued to express concern about the state of religious freedom in India, particularly after the election of current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Placing India in its “Tier 2” category (which the USCIRF defines as “countries where the violations engaged in or tolerated by the government are serious and are characterized by at least one of the elements of the ‘systematic, ongoing, and […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: 1984 anti-Sikh riots, anti-Sikh genocide, anti-Sikh pogroms

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On being “one of them”

July 9, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Medium, in an address after the mass murder of nine black congregants at the hands of a white supremacist in Charleston, South Carolina, writer John Metta talks about the difficulty in having conversations about race: Despite what the Charleston Massacre makes things look like, people are dying not because individuals are racist, but because individuals are helping support a racist system by wanting to protect their own non-racist self beliefs. People are dying because we are supporting a racist system […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Charleston, hate crimes, John Metta, Ku Klux Klan, mass shooting, Medium, Oak Creek, Racism, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, South Carolina, White supremacy, Wisconsin

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Cover of Kevin Kruse's book"One Nation Under God." (Photo source: NPR)

The history of American Christianity and American human rights

July 8, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On The Immanent Frame, Gene Zubovich provides an interesting overview of the history of America’s recognition of human rights, specifically by way of the Cold War era (post- World War II until the early 1990s) American Christian reaction (and the tensions within) to communist movements in Russia and China: In 1948, the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, three debates were most salient in the American context about the boundaries between the religious and the secular. […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Literature • Tags: capitalism, Cold War, Communism, Gene Zubovich, human rights, Kevin Kruse

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The “Dusky Peril” and locating race in racial violence

February 25, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On The Vault (the history blog for Slate magazine), historian Peter Manseau recounts the history of the 1907 Bellingham riots in Washington state, in which Sikh laborers were attacked and driven out of the town’s lumber industry by mobs of white men: As reported across the country, in September 1907, a mob of disgruntled white workers rounded up hundreds of Sikhs, beat them in the street, and then forced them out of town. Many went north to British Columbia; others went […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: "Washington, Bellingham, Bellingham riots, Chapel Hill, hate crime, hate crimes, North Carolina, Peter Manseau, Slate, The Vault, Washington State

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FBI Director: “we are at a crossroads” with race relations

February 24, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent speech at Georgetown University on February 12, FBI Director James B. Comey spoke about race relations as it pertains to law enforcement, citing recent events in which law enforcement has engaged communities of color. “Much of our history is not pretty,” Comey said. “At many points in American history, law enforcement enforced the status quo, a status quo that was often brutally unfair to disfavored groups.” FBI Director James Comey. (Source: Washington Post via @mboorstein) While Comey speaks […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, James B. Comey, Oak Creek, race relations, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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"President Obama delivers a traditional Indian greeting before he speaks on Jan. 27 in New Delhi, India. The president, who was guest of honor at India's Republic Day celebrations, wrapped up his visit by talking about the freedom to practice one's religion, the rights of women and the need to provide every child with equal opportunity." (Photo: European Pressphoto Agency. Source: USA Today.).

Obama cites Oak Creek massacre in New Delhi speech, site of 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom

February 12, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

While he didn’t visit the Sikh faith’s holiest site during his trip to India two weeks ago, President Obama did create a bit of a stir as he openly advocated for religious freedom and peaceful coexistence of faiths in India, citing in his speech the mass murder of Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012: Obama said no society is immune from man’s darkest impulses, as he raised the 2012 shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin that killed six […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: Ami Bera, Barack Obama, hate crimes, India, Narendra Modi, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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American Turban

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: Civil Rights

The case for “mistaken identity”

Let’s expunge “mistaken identity” from our vocabulary, first

The doctor will see your race now

USCIRF 2015 Annual Report addresses religious freedom of Sikhs in India

On being “one of them”

The history of American Christianity and American human rights

The “Dusky Peril” and locating race in racial violence

FBI Director: “we are at a crossroads” with race relations

Obama cites Oak Creek massacre in New Delhi speech, site of 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom