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MTA officially settles with Sikhs and Muslims on ‘brand or segregate’ policy

May 30, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Earlier this month and as a result of a seven-year long legal challenge, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), which oversees public transit in the city, agreed in principle to eliminate the requirement that Sikhs or Muslims who wear religious head-coverings to affix a corporate logo on the head-covering, or be segregated out of public view. This policy was coined as “brand or segregate”. The settlement was officially filed in federal court today, and includes: Transit Authority employees will no […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: brand or segregate, Metropolitan Transit Authority, MTA, Muslim, New York, Sikh, Turban, United States Department of Justice

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Those pesky Sikhites

May 9, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Near Chicago, Illinois, former Republican candidate for President of the United States, Herman Cain, speaks at Northwestern University about the foreign oil crisis: NU College Democrats Co-President Lauren Izaak said although she found Cain’s dismissal of global warming troubling, she took particular issue with his skewering of some sensitive words. While discussing the foreign oil crisis, Cain seemed to purposely mispronounce the religious follower names “Sikh” and “Shiite,” quickly adding, “Yeah, I said it,” when the audience gasped. “I definitely […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Chicago, Herman Cain, Illinois, Muslim, Northwestern University, Shiite

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MTA agrees to unbrand Sikh turbans

May 2, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

For the better part of the last decade, Sikhs and Muslims have been campaigning against a discriminatory policy by New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) that required followers of these religions to affix the MTA logo on religious articles of faith that were worn on the head, even though the MTA distributed headwear that did not carry the logo to other employees . For Sikhs, this meant that for the purposes of employment, they were required to attach an “MTA” […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: Metropolitan Transit Authority, MTA, Muslim, New York, Sikh, Turban, United States Department of Justice

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Rick Santorum endorses profiling and workplace religious freedom

November 23, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Rick Santorum is one of the candidates trying to secure the Republican nomination for the 2012 Presidential election. His performance in last night’s debate on national security was largely unremarkable (if you go by post-debate media coverage), except for two statements he made. One of those statements was to support racial profiling of Muslims: “Obviously Muslims would be someone you’d look at, absolutely,” Santorum said. “Those are the folks who … the radical Muslims are the people that are committing […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: Herman Cain, Muslim, Racial profiling, Republican, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul

Guru Nanak, Muslims, and America

November 23, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I often reflect on the parallels between Sikh philosophy and that which inspired the founding of America. Dylan Kaplan writes in the Washington Post about his experience visiting a Gurdwara in Rockville, Maryland during celebrations for Guru Nanak’s birthday, and observes the same: How many countries in the world have a Sikh community that is so committed to bringing different people together that they would invite a Pakistani Muslim to speak on their most religious holiday? The founding fathers would […]

Categories: News Bits, Reflections, Sikhism • Tags: Bhai Bala, Bhai Mardana, Dylan Kaplan, Guru Nanak, Maryland, Muslim, Rockville

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“Terror” does not equal “Turban”

July 28, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

It amazes me how quickly and easily the media points to the turban when acts of terror are committed across the globe, even when the individuals who performed these acts do not themselves wear a turban. In the case of Norway’s horrendous attack, the perpetrator was a cleancut, white male. There was one person involved who does wear a turban: a young Sikh woman, who witnessed the shooting and was lucky to escape from the killer’s rampage. And yet, the conversation in the media would […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: Canada, Cape Breton Post, Muslim, Oslo, Racial profiling, Terrorism

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The American “Muslim” hearings: radicalization takes different forms

March 30, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“Regrettably, while nearly a decade has passed since 9/11, we continue to see a steady stream of violence and discrimination targeting Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South-Asian communities. In each city and town where I have met with leaders of these communities, I have been struck by the sense of fear that pervades their lives – fear of violence, of bigotry and hate. The headwind of intolerance manifests itself in many different ways.” — an excerpt of Assistant Attorney General Thomas […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, News Bits, Politics • Tags: civil rights, Dick Durbin, hate crime, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslim, Peter King, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense Fund, Thomas Perez, United States Department of Justice, US Attorney General

Cultural competence is ethical

November 3, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A new paper to be published in the Journal of Medical Ethics takes on cultural competence where it relates to the practice of medicine: Increasing cultural competence is often cited as a way to reduce healthcare disparities arising from value and cultural differences between patients and providers. Cultural competence entails not only a knowledge base of cultural practices of disparate patient populations, but also an attitude of adapting one’s practice style to meet patient needs and values. In order to […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Cultural Competence, Health care, Muslim

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Muslim

MTA officially settles with Sikhs and Muslims on ‘brand or segregate’ policy

Those pesky Sikhites

MTA agrees to unbrand Sikh turbans

Rick Santorum endorses profiling and workplace religious freedom

Guru Nanak, Muslims, and America

“Terror” does not equal “Turban”

The American “Muslim” hearings: radicalization takes different forms

Cultural competence is ethical