| Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Two more Sikhs shot in Elk Grove, California

May 19, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Only minutes from where Surinder Singh and Gurmej Atwal were shot and killed while on a walk in Elk Grove , California, last March (a murder that has yet gone unsolved), a middle-aged Sikh couple have reportedly been shot this morning in the same city: Sacramento police are searching for an armed suspect in the North Laguna Creek area who they believe fatally shot a man and critically injured a woman this morning. The gunman is described as a short black man […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: California, Elk Grove, Gurmej Atwal, hate crime, murder, Sacramento, shooting, Surinder Singh

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Captured on film: Post-9/11 experiences of American Sikhs

May 19, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

It was a serendipitous post on The Sikh Coalition’s Facebook page that linked to the independent film A Dream in Doubt (2007), which follows Rana Singh Sodhi after his brother, Balbir, was killed in a post-9/11 hate crime in Arizona. The documentary aired on PBS’s Independent Lens : When his brother is murdered, Rana Singh Sodhi finds himself coping with national tragedy and murder, finding support in community and attempting to reclaim the American dream.

Categories: Hate Crimes, TV/Movies • Tags: 9/11, 9/11 Memorial, A Dream in Doubt, American Made, Balbir Singh Sodhi, Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath, hate crime, Independent Lens, Jan Brewer, Rana Singh Sodhi, Sharat Raju, Sikh Coalition, Valarie Kaur

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Modoc County, California Supervisor apologizes for “rag” comment

May 17, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Modoc County Supervisor Loren “Shorty” Crabtree publicly apologized last week for his disparaging comments about Sikh turbans last month. From The Modoc Independent: “As many of you are aware, during the April 12 Supervisor’s meeting, I made an inappropriate remark regarding Americans wearing turbans. After the meeting, I had a meeting with the American Sikh community and now understand that turbans have an important religious significance for Sikhs. The comments I made were hurtful and wrong, and I apologize for […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: California, Loren Crabtree, Modoc County

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The Turban: Fashion Swagger

May 17, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Style Blogger features one Gagan Singh, who embraces the philosophy that men “put together a sharp outfit that complements them and that they are comfortable in.” “Often times guys are too quick to jump on the latest trends that become popular and then fade away. You can never go wrong wearing the “classics” – like these Bass weejuns which have been around since the 1930′s.” Bonus Tip: Gagan, who has awesome personal style (prior to the party I bumped into […]

Categories: Style • Tags: Fashion, Gagan Singh, The Style Blogger

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Could American Sikhs ever be as important as Canadian Sikhs?

May 13, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, just went through a federal election in which a conservative government – one that had just lost a no-confidence motion that gave rise to this election – ended up strengthening their power for the next four years. It was an odd twist of events. A noteworthy character of this election was the wooing of the ethnic minority vote – and especially of the Canadian Sikh vote – by all parties across the political spectrum. The […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Canada, Conservative Party, Gurbax Singh Malhi, Herb Dhaliwal, Republican Party, Stephen Harper

American religious affiliation vs. household wealth

May 12, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The New York Times presented a study by the Pew Forum that compares household wealth with education level for various religious affiliations within the United States. Unfortunately, Sikhs are not included as a separate category. However, the results of the study are nonetheless interesting: The most affluent of the major religions — including secularism — is Reform Judaism. Sixty-seven percent of Reform Jewish households made more than $75,000 a year at the time the Pew Forum on Religion and Public […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: education level, Employment Discrimination, household income, joint family, Pew Forum, Pew Research Center, religious affiliation, Workplace Discrimination

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New York Times categorizes Sikhs as "Sikhs (Sect)"

New York Times categorizes Sikhs as “Sect”

May 11, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

While I was writing my previous post, I discovered that the New York Times, on its website, categorizes Sikhs as “Sikhs (Sect)”. The following is a screen capture: As Sikhism is its own distinct faith, and one of the largest faiths (by adherent population) in the world, this is clearly a misnomer by the New York Times. The obvious question, then, is: of what other religion does the New York Times think the Sikhs are a sect? A quick look at […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: New York Times

Vaisakhi celebrations across the country close out April

May 11, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

While Sikhs usually celebrate Vaisakhi in the middle of April, there were several celebrations around the country that took place on the April 30 – May 1 weekend, and we are given the opportunity to read the local coverage about these celebrations: “Free Meals at Sikh Day Festival on Madison Ave. ” – New York’s “Sikh Day Parade” was covered by the New York Times, who unfortunately was more enraptured by the concept of free food than the opportunity to educate […]

Categories: Events • Tags: "Washington, Anderson, California, Marysville, New York, Queens, Redding, Vaisakhi

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A food critic’s take on langar

May 10, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Dan Packel, at the website TheAwl.com, learns a little about Sikhism by way of a visit to the Philadelphia Sikh Society Gurdwara, where he partakes of langar and writes about it somewhat as a food review. I even picked up some insight about why my mother refers to plain lettuce as “salad”. Read the full piece at The Awl.

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Dan Packel, Langar, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Sikh Society Gurdwara, The Awl

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