Balbir Singh Sodhi |

"A scene of the procession of the parade held in downtown Phoenix on April 21st." (Source: Valley India Times)

A country of many colors

July 18, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A man was giving small handbills to passersby. We saw a drawing of an American flag, and read this introduction:”We are loyal Americans. We join all Americans in condemning the violence in Boston.” I remembered the shootings at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., in August 2012. I finished the letter, and realized it was a plea not to blame the Sikhs of Phoenix for the bombs in Boston. — Melissa Musick Nussbaum writes in the National Catholic Reporter […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Arizona, Balbir Singh Sodhi, Boston, Boston Marathon, Melissa Musick Nussbaum, Mesa, Oak Creek, Phoenix

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Sikh wins religious accommodation case against AZ Department of Corrections

February 6, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Sikh Coalition shared news today of a victory in a recent religious accommodation case in Arizona, in which a Sikh correctional officer employed by the Arizona Department of Corrections was threatened with dismissal unless he removed his articles of faith. According to the Sikh Coalition, after 10 years of employment with the Department, Ikhbinder Singh Bassin was told in December that he would be terminated unless he shaved his beard and removed his kara (steel bracelet) within 10 days, […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Arizona, Arizona Department of Corrections, Balbir Singh Sodhi, California, Employment Discrimination, Ikhbinder Singh Bassin, Jan Brewer, Sikh Coalition, Trilochan Singh Oberoi, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

A recent Facebook conversation joking about using hate crimes as a response to violence in the Middle East.

Living post-eight-five

September 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Recently, I was engaged in a polite online conversation with a friend about the attacks on the US embassies in Libya and Egypt, when a third person interjected to proclaim that the Middle East should be “taken over” and bombed (as if not already happening in several places in the region, but commentary on this is beyond the purview of this blog). The conversation ended when this individual then indicated that he was “ready to commit some hate crimes” as […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Balbir Singh Sodhi, Japanese internment, Libya, Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Thinking about that day in September, eleven years later

September 11, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the morning of this day eleven years ago, I was in a hotel preparing to attend the second day of a technical conference. It was a rather mundane and typical data users meeting. In retrospect, the topic of this meeting became insignificant in comparison of the terrorist attacks on the United States that morning. That morning, as I was about to walk out the door of my room, the television news broke to images of a tall building on […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, National September 11 Memorial Museum, New York, New York City, One World Trade Center, September 11 attacks, World Trade Center

The Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2011

January 5, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Happy New Year! As I did last year around this time, I’d like to reflect on what were some of the bigger stories for Sikhs living in America during this past year in terms of their implications on us as a community, or their impact on our collective psyche. It was an up-and-down year for Sikhs. For many, it was a year that reminded our visible minority of the hate crimes and 9/11 backlash that apparently still continue to plague […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Amardeep Singh, Balbir Singh Sodhi, Fauja Singh, Gurmej Atwal, Jan Brewer, Kamal Nath, New York, Rana Singh Sodhi, Ravinder Singh Bhalla, Sikhs for Justice, Surinder Singh, Top 5 Sikh American Stories

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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Other American Sikh perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden

May 5, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Subsequent to my post yesterday about my feelings after receiving the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, I was struck by the common chord sounded by Sikhs all over the United States who, too, expressed mixed emotions about the event: joy at justice finally being delivered, combined with an uneasiness that an increase in hate crimes targeting men in turbans in this country could be on the horizon. Sikhs, who are the predominant portion of the people wearing turbans in this country, have experienced a brunt […]

Categories: News Bits, Reflections • Tags: Balbir Singh Sodhi, Dr. I.J. Singh, Dr. Rajwant Singh, Navdeep Singh Dhillon, Osama bin Laden, Rajdeep Singh, Rana Singh Sodhi, Sukhsimranjit Singh, Valarie Kaur

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A Sikh’s reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden

May 4, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I was sitting in a Bay Area, California, restaurant when I first learned of the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by US Navy SEALs. At my table, we were stunned into silence by news that came completely out of left field. Almost ten years after the 9/11 attacks, Americans finally brought to justice the man behind the attacks. Video footage and images of bin Laden took over all of the televisions in the restaurant that moments before were […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: Balbir Singh Sodhi, Barack Obama, California, Osama bin Laden, Stockton, United States Navy SEALs

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Vetoed: Arizona Governor preserves memorial to Balbir Singh Sodhi

May 3, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In recent days, I have heard concerns from some of the Arizona families directly affected by the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath. For their sake, I am sorry this issue has reared its head once more. — An excerpt from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s letter to the Secretary of State, explaining why she vetoed Arizona’s state bill HB 2230, which sought to modify the state’s 9/11 memorial, including the removal of (post-9/11 hate crime victim) Balbir Singh Sodhi‘s name. The bill’s original […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: 9/11 Memorial, Arizona, Balbir Singh Sodhi, Jan Brewer, John Kavanagh

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Balbir Singh Sodhi

A country of many colors

Sikh wins religious accommodation case against AZ Department of Corrections

Living post-eight-five

Thinking about that day in September, eleven years later

The Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2011

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

Other American Sikh perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden

A Sikh’s reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden

Vetoed: Arizona Governor preserves memorial to Balbir Singh Sodhi