Civil Rights |

"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

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"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

"One Step Forward, Half a Step Back" -- A study by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Sikh Coalition about bullying in NYC schools, was released earlier this month. (Source: Sikh Coalition)

Study of Asian American students in NY finds increase in reports of bullying

September 18, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Two weeks ago, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and the Sikh Coalition released a report entitled “One Step Forward, Half a Step Back,” gauging the implementation of New York Schools Chancellor’s Regulation A-832, issued in 2008 “which established policies and procedures on how New York City schools should respond to bias-based harassment, intimidation, and bullying in schools.” The New York City Department of Education serves 1.1 million students across 1,800 schools. For Sikh American students, the […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Reports/Studies • Tags: AALDEF, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, bullying, New York, New York City Department of Education, One Step Forward Half a Step Back, Sikh Coalition

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BREAKING NEWS: There are racists on the internet

September 17, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — After New York’s Nina Davuluri became the first Indian American to win the title of Miss America, racist tweets surfaced on Internet social media sites on Sunday, catching news outlets across the country by surprise. “Was there a terrorist attack or something?” one dumbfounded news editor asked. “We have a black president and everything so I’m not sure where the hate came from after what’s-her-name won the pageant. If she was Arab or Muslim or something, […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Humor • Tags: Miss America, Miss New York, New York, Nina Davuluri, Racism

Excerpt from "I Want the Wide American Earth." (Source: Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center)

Bhagat Singh Thind, the e-comic

September 16, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In conjunction with their traveling exhibition entitled “I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story,” the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center released an e-comic book that provides snapshots of Asian American history: “I want the Wide American Earth: An Asian American E-Comic” is an illustrated adaptation of the “I want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story” banner exhibition. Produced in collaboration with SI Universe Media, creators of the first-ever Asian Pacific American comics anthology, […]

Categories: Art, Civil Rights, Events • Tags: Asian American, Bhagat Singh Thind, comics, I Want the Wide American Earth, Pacific Islander, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

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The US flag is raised in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. (Source: Martin Ramirez)

“Since 9/11”

September 15, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The neighborhood in which I live is one of those that sprung up during the real estate bubble eight years ago. The houses are, for the most part, very similar. Composed of four or five standard models, the streets offer a consistent character of a typical Californian subdivision. There is one house among the many, however, that is a bit different. It is unique in that an American flag waves outside its front door. The residents of that house are […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: 9/11, hate crimes, Islamophobia, Sikhophobia, xenophobia

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: Civil Rights

Picture of the Day: Breaking the camouflage ceiling

The “t-word”

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

Sikh man attacked in apparent hate crime in New York

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

Study of Asian American students in NY finds increase in reports of bullying

BREAKING NEWS: There are racists on the internet

Bhagat Singh Thind, the e-comic

“Since 9/11”