Civil Rights |

"Spc. Simranpreet Lamba carries the guidon for his platoon in Company A, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, during the battalion's Basic Combat Training graduation Wednesday morning." (Source: US Army)

Petition: End US military ban on Sikh articles of faith

July 16, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Sikh Coalition is collecting signatures to petition President Barack Obama to reverse the ban on Sikh articles of faith in the US military, which in effect bans many observant Sikhs from serving their country. In a submission to the United States Commission on Human Rights during a briefing on May 31, the Sikh Coalition provided a thorough account of the issue: In the United States, Sikhs are subjected to unusually high rates of racial profiling and employment discrimination, including […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Employment Discrimination, Sikh Coalition, United States, United States Armed Forces, US Army, US military

"Demonstrators and members of the media gather outside of the courthouse on July 13. The jurors deliberated for more than 16 hours before delivering their verdict." (Source: CNN)

The black, white, and grey, of racism

July 16, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Activist Sonny Singh writes in The Huffington Post about the racial nuances in the George Zimmerman trial: To really understand racism in the United States, we have to understand power. Racism is not just about attitudes; it is a system of oppression. What this means is that white people receive unearned privileges and advantaged simply because of the color of skin, while people of color are systematically disadvantaged and marginalized. That does not make the experiences of all people of […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: George Zimmerman, Racism, Sonny Singh, Sonny Singh Brooklynwala, Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin. (Source: Straight from the A.)

Not all of us are Trayvon Martin

July 16, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In spite of the media’s obsession about the case, I had not followed closely the trial of George Zimmerman, a Florida man of mixed ethnic heritage charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, an African American, in February, 2012. I was repulsed from the sensationalizing of this tragedy by the media for ratings, with the hours of talk by dozens of legal experts for its own sake, and particularly avoiding very salient discussions […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: George Zimmerman, hate crimes, Trayvon Martin

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Major Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi is featured by The New York Times in a story about Sikhs joining the US military. (Photo: Richard Perry | The New York Times. Source: Sikh Coalition)

“If they want to serve, we should let them do it.”

July 8, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Today’s online and print versions of The New York Times includes an article describing the challenges Sikh Americans are facing when attempting to join the US military: “Folks say, ‘If you really want to serve, why don’t you cut your beard?’ ” said Major Kalsi, a doctor who is the medical director of emergency medical services at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. “But asking a person to choose between religion and country, that’s not who we are as a nation. We’re […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Joseph Crowley, Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, Simran Lamba, United States Armed Forces, United States Army, US Army, US military

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Happy 4th of July!

July 4, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

During a conversation last night, a friend reminded me of one of the earliest accounts of a Sikh in the United States, in which a merchant trader from Massachusetts named Captain Stephen Phillips wrote in his journal about a Sikh man that he brought back from India in the late 1700s: After his retirement in the late 1700s, he apparently brought back to his home town of Salem a tall, intrepid Sikh who ‘stalked around town in the turban and […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events • Tags: Declaration of Independence, Fourth of July, freedom of religion, Independence Day, Massachusetts, Salem, Stephen Phillips, William Bentley

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"Ikman and Manjot Singh, shown here with their children, were forced to leave an AMC theater in Emeryville, Calif., after security guards accused the couple of carrying weapons." (Source: India West)

Religious freedom at the movies

July 3, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A recent incident in which a Sikh couple was ejected from an AMC movie theater in Emeryville, California, because they each were wearing a kirpan, a small sword that is a recognized article of the Sikh faith (worn by Sikhs who are initiated into the Khalsa order), has raised the issues of religious freedom and racial profiling: On June 22, Manjot and Ikman Singh were preparing to watch the new Superman movie, “Man of Steel,” at AMC’s Bay 16 theater […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: AMC, AMC Theatres, California, Emeryville, Ikman Kaur, Khalsa, Kirpan, Manjot Singh

Christina Antonakos-Wallace, of with WINGS and ROOTS.

An interview with Christina Antonakos-Wallace, filmmaker of with WINGS and ROOTS

June 25, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Two weeks ago, I introduced the film project with WINGS and ROOTS by filmmaker Christina Antonakos-Wallace. with WINGS and ROOTS is a 90-minute documentary that tells the stories of five people from different immigrant communities living in New York or Berlin, Germany, who have struggled to shape their identity in various ways. The film features The Langar Hall’s own Sonny Singh, a Sikh living in New York. Part of his story was featured in the well-received short documentary Article of […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Profiles, TV/Movies • Tags: Article of Faith, Berlin, Christina Antonakos-Wallace, Germany, immigrants, Immigration, New York, Sonny Singh Brooklynwala, Where are you from from?, with WINGS and ROOTS

Kaur Foundation at a Punjabi mela (festival) in Washington, D.C., in May. (Source: Kaur Foundation)

The Kaur Foundation: promoting cultural diversity and Sikh awareness

June 14, 2013 by American Turban Guest Contributor

Founded in 2002, the Kaur Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create awareness of the Sikh identity, heritage, and secular values, while promoting and pursuing cultural literacy through education in classrooms. As its primary focus, the organization works to accomplish these goals by providing teachers and students specific tools and resources for use in their classrooms. Through its innovative outreach programs, the Kaur Foundation is building institutional partnerships to help create safe and inclusive learning environments for […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Resources • Tags: Jessica Arora, Kaur Foundation, Sikh awareness

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

Tracking anti-Sikh hate crimes is a needed first step

June 12, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Last week, to much jubilation among civil rights groups, an advisory committee to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recommended that the FBI begin specifically recording hate crimes against Sikhs, Hindus, and Arabs (starting in 2015, as I understand), as it does for other targeted groups. It was for good reason that this announcement would be so celebrated considering the significant and lengthy effort to bring this incremental change. However, it is important to place this addition to the FBI’s […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reports/Studies, Resources • Tags: Department of Justice, FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Form 1-699, hate crime, National Victimation Survey, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Coalition, United States Bureau of Justice Statistics

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: Civil Rights

Petition: End US military ban on Sikh articles of faith

The black, white, and grey, of racism

Not all of us are Trayvon Martin

“If they want to serve, we should let them do it.”

Happy 4th of July!

Religious freedom at the movies

An interview with Christina Antonakos-Wallace, filmmaker of with WINGS and ROOTS

The Kaur Foundation: promoting cultural diversity and Sikh awareness

Tracking anti-Sikh hate crimes is a needed first step