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
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
This time last year, I reflected on the circumstances in which I heard the news of the assassination of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs in Pakistan: As the evening progressed, we watched the images of people gathering in Washington, D.C., and at Ground Zero in New York, waving American flags, singing the national anthem, and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The outpouring of patriotism, in the manner of what might resemble a frat party, caused me some apprehension. It […]
Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections, Reports/Studies • Tags: hate crimes, Osama bin Laden, Post-9/11, Sikh Coalition, Sikh Presenter's Course
Reports of hate crimes (or suspected hate crimes) against Sikhs in the United States have been frequent in recent months. Some of the more recent incidents include a Sikh stabbed in California, a Gurdwara vandalized in Michigan, and death threats targeting a Sikh family in Virginia, but these are not in isolation. The FBI tracks hate crimes and publishes these statistics in their Hate Crimes Database each year. However, while Sikhs are often the specific targets of hate crimes and […]
Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crime, Sikh Coalition
“‘We will kill you, we will sell your children in Cuba, and tie up your women with your turbans,’” he says. “It was hard on us.” — a member of the Sikh family in Sterling, Virginia, who recently received a death threat accusing them of being a member of the Taliban, recounts the previous threats made against them in the past which also included spraying graffiti on their home.
Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crime, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sterling, Virginia
According to SALDEF (the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund), a Sikh family in Sterling, Virginia received a death threat in the mail this week. The anonymous letter accuses this family as being members of the Taliban: “Our People in the neighborhood have been closely watching your activities and figured out you are a close associate of a secret Taliban movement on the US Soil. We ask you to leave the country as soon as possible otherwise one of […]
Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crime, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sterling, Virginia
The Sikh Coalition alerted us today about t-shirts that were being sold on the popular website CafePress.com, which allows users to sell clothing and other items with custom designs. Users upload their designs to the website, and CafePress handles the printing of those designs on shirts and other products, the transaction, and the shipping. CafePress charges and retains from the user a base price on the products and the user adds in their own mark up on each sale. The […]
Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: CafePress, freedom of speech, hate crime, Sikh Coalition
The FBI is joining the investigation of the vandalism of a Gurdwara under construction in Sterling Heights, Michigan, almost two weeks ago: DEARBORN, Mich. (WTW) — The U.S. Justice Department says the FBI is joining local law enforcement agencies to investigate vandalism at Muslim and Sikh houses of worship in the Detroit area. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade and Detroit FBI chief Andrew Arena announced Thursday that federal authorities will participate in the probes of two attacks that happened this month […]
Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Graffiti, Gurdwara, hate crime, Michigan, Sterling Heights
“Especially after you learn about all that, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to discriminate against the Sikh community,” Haag said. “We have one of the most tolerant communities in the United States right here in the Bay Area, so if that discrimination is happening here, that’s really disturbing.” — US Attorney Melinda Haag, after learning about Sikhism while meeting with Bay Area Sikhs at the Gurdwara in El Sobrante, California on Sunday. Haag’s meeting was to encourage […]
Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: California, El Sobrante, FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Melinda Haag, United States Attorney
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