A long time and proud resident of Bakersfield, California, Balmeet Singh was assaulted and had his life threatened by an individual invoking racist slurs outside a restaurant two nights ago. In this blog post, he recounts and reflects on the experience. Many thanks to Balmeet for sharing his thoughts about the incident.
Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Bakersfield, Balmeet Singh, California, hate crime, Racism
After the news of another hate crime against a Sikh American last week, American Turban contributor Lori Way shares a timely poem from a young author from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Many thanks to Lori and author Sandeep Kaur for sharing this reflection. Sandeep Kaur is currently a pharmacy student at Manchester University in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but she was just 18 in the summer of 2013 when she wrote “A Land of Love.” The poem was selected for publication in […]
Categories: Art, Hate Crimes, Literature, Profiles, Reflections • Tags: "A Land of Love", Chicago, Fort Wayne, hate crime, hate crimes, Illinois, Inderjit Singh Mukker, Indiana, Lori Way, Poetry, Sandeep Kaur
On The Vault (the history blog for Slate magazine), historian Peter Manseau recounts the history of the 1907 Bellingham riots in Washington state, in which Sikh laborers were attacked and driven out of the town’s lumber industry by mobs of white men: As reported across the country, in September 1907, a mob of disgruntled white workers rounded up hundreds of Sikhs, beat them in the street, and then forced them out of town. Many went north to British Columbia; others went […]
Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: "Washington, Bellingham, Bellingham riots, Chapel Hill, hate crime, hate crimes, North Carolina, Peter Manseau, Slate, The Vault, Washington State
1984 through Indian Eyes: Literary Accounts of Operation Blue Star and the Anti-Sikh Pogroms By Lori Way Part III – Her Name Is Kaur, edited by Meeta Kaur In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Operation Bluestar in Amritsar, India, in June, 1984, and the anti-Sikh pogroms that took place the following November in New Delhi, Lori Way continues her series of essays discussing works of literature focusing upon these events. See also Part I and Part II of her series […]
Categories: 1984, Literature • Tags: Gunisha Kaur, Harleen Kaur, hate crime, hate crimes, Her Name is Kaur, Lori Way, Meeta Kaur, Oak Creek, Operation Blue Star, Operation Bluestar, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin
Fort Wayne, Indiana, is a town located about four hours southeast of Oak Creek, Wisconsin. A small but growing Sikh population there recently commemorated the second anniversary of the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in which six people were murdered by a white supremacist. Over six days, the community honored each of the victims with a seva (selfless service) project. Lori Way, a regular contributor to this blog and a Sikh Coalition Volunteer Advocate in Fort Wayne, […]
Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: 6 Days of Seva, Fort Wayne, hate crime, hate crimes, Indiana, Lori Way, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin
Back in May, Gilbert Garcia attacked an elderly Sikh man named Piara Singh with a metal rod outside a Gurdwara in Fresno, California. Piara Singh, 82 years old, was hospitalized due to the injuries he sustained that included severe head injuries and collapsed lung. He was discharged home where he is recovering from his injuries. The attack was quickly deemed a hate crime based on statements made by Garcia after the attack. On Monday, after a third medical evaluation, it […]
Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: California, Fresno, Gilbert Garcia, hate crime, hate crimes, Piara Singh
Over the past week, I have spoken to several Sikhs who shared how personally upset they felt about the attack on Dr. Prabhjot Singh in New York just over a week ago. In the context of repeated attacks on innocent Sikh Americans in recent years, this most recent incident has left many with increasing senses of frustration, disappointment, and vulnerability. The solution to the issue of hate crimes against our community is not an easy one to parse, and this, […]
Categories: Education, Reports/Studies • Tags: Boston, Dr. Kiran S. K. Arora, hate crime, Massachusetts, mental health, Prabhjot Singh, Research, University of Massachusetts
Last October, Jamie W. Larson severely assaulted a Sikh cab driver for whom he was a passenger near Seattle, Washington: Jamie W. Larson attacked the cab driver during an Oct. 17 ride after commenting on the man’s turban. According to charging documents, Larson, 48, tore out chunks of the man’s beard during the assault, which also loosened one of the driver’s teeth. During the attack, Larson issued various epithets and made derogatory comments about the victim’s ethnicity. As a result, was […]
Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Federal Way, hate crime, hate crimes, Jamie W. Larson, Seattle, Shepard-Byrd Law, taxicab, Washington State
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
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