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Children are evacuated from their elementary school in Newtown, CT, after a shooter attacked on December 14, 2012. (source: CNN)

Thoughts and prayers for the innocent lives lost in Newtown, CT

December 14, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I am sickened with today’s news of another mass shooting in this country, this time at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Preliminary reports indicate around 20 people are dead, half or more of whom are children. It was only a couple of days ago that we were still coming to terms with a shooting at a mall in Portland, Oregon. Gun violence has been a recurring topic on this blog during the last two years, after shootings that took […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: California, Connecticut, Elk Grove, gun violence, Gurmej Atwal, hate crimes, Newtown, Oak Creek, Surinder Singh, Wisconsin

Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

US Assistant Attorney General visits Oak Creek, WI

December 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Visiting the gurdwara, the overwhelming message I took back from the congregation is one of unity – a resolve to work together, with members of every faith to foster understanding, and to ensure that such tragic acts of violence are never repeated. — Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez of the Civil Rights Division of US Department of Justice, after his visit to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin last week. The Department of Justice has joined calls to have the FBI […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Thomas Perez, United States Assistant Attorney General, United States Department of Justice, United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Wisconsin

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Vigil at Sikh ReligiousVigil at Sikh Religious Society of Chicago Palatine Gurdwara in response to the murder of six Sikhs at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August.(source: Twitter user @iammintusingh)

SAAPRI and Sikh Religious Society to commemorate HR 1193

December 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

To commemorate the anti-hate resolution (HR 1193) passed by the State of Illinois House of Representatives in the wake of the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin and hate crimes targeting Muslims, the South Asian American Public Research Institute (SAAPRI) and the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago in Palatine, Illinois will be holding an event on Sunday, December 16: South Asian American Policy & Research Institute (SAAPRI) and Sikh Religious Society (SRS) located in Palatine commend the Illinois […]

Categories: Events, Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crimes, HR 1193, Illinois, Illinois House of Representatives, Oak Creek, Palatine, SAAPRI, Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, South Asian American Public Research Institute, SRS, Wisconsin

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Woven bracelet that the Oak Creek Police Department had specially made for their officers to remember the shooting at the Oak Creek Gurdwara, including orange for the Sikh community, blue for the police officers, and black for those that were lost that day. (source: Sikh Coalition)

Quote of the Day: “strangers no longer”

December 11, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Things have changed in Oak Creek, of course, in the months since a gunman with white supremacist ties took the lives of six temple members and wounded four others. Oak Creek and the Sikh community are strangers no longer; they will forever be linked with each other. — An article in the Oak Creek Patch describes Sikh awareness presentations being provided to Oak Creek, Wisconsin city staff, police department and schools by the Sikh Coalition. The article also includes an […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Gurdwara, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Awareness Seminar, Sikh Coalition, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Illinois House of Representatives (source: Chicago Tribune file photo)

IL state legislature passes anti-hate resolution

December 10, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Making reference to the August mass murder of Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and subsequent attacks on mosques in the United States, the Illinois state legislature recently passed a resolution called HR 1193-Encourage Religious Tolerance to denounce hate crimes and encourage participation and civic engagement of minorities and immigrants (via @sepiamutiny): The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Biss, (D-Skokie), is more of a statement against anti-Asian bigotry than a legal measure. But it has impact because it comes on the […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Ami Gandhi, Daniel Biss, HR 1193, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, Illinois House of Representatives, Oak Creek, Rajinder Majo, SAAPRI, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, South Asian American Polity and Research Institute, Wisconsin

Is it enough to “Be proud”?

December 5, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Nina Chanpreet Kaur provides an in depth contextual critique of the Kony 2012-like “Be Proud” media campaign, launched recently at the Sikh International Film Festival in New York by entrepreneur millionaire Gurbaksh Chahal in response to the mass murder of Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin: Truly empowering people and eliminating hate comes with massive, localized, collaborative efforts aligned with existing national efforts that are measurable, focused on skill and community building, and impact the day to day lives of communities. […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, TV/Movies • Tags: Be Proud Movement, Gurbaksh Chahal, hate crime, Kony 2012, Mass media, Nina Chanpreet Kaur, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

"Former white supremacist speaks at Sikh event" (source: Fox6Now)

Former white supremacist speaks at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin

November 28, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Arno Michaelis, a reformed white supremacist and author of the book My Life After Hate, comments on speaking at an event held last week hosted by the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin: “There certainly is a lot of compelling discussion to be had about who I was and who I could have become, and I’m happy to talk about that, but tonight’s not about me — it’s about the principles of Heritage Day and of human beings appreciating the differences that we […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Arno Michaelis, Heritage Day, My Life After Hate, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, White supremacy, Wisconsin

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Sikh student and teacher (Kulpreet Singh | About.com Sikhism)

Moving beyond tolerance in the classroom

November 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In an article published on the Not In Our Town blog, Amrit Kaur Sidhu, an intern with United Sikhs, relates personal experience to make the salient distinction between promoting diversity (“plurality”) and promoting pluralism — “the active engagement of plurality” — in the classroom: I realized that schools are the first institutions that must become a model of pluralism, in order for pluralism to seep out into the rest of society. Students are placed in a social setting with other […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Amrit Kaur Sidhu, bullying, CREATE Wisconsin, Education, hate crimes, Navjot Kaur, Not In Our Town, Oak Creek, pluralism, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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Still from Lt. Brian Murphy's Dash Cam video showing the mass murderer during his attack on the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Discounting the “lone wolf” murderer

November 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Despite the conclusion by the FBI that the white supremacist acted alone in his massacre of six Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin last August, an article back in September by the Center for American Progress suggests that such “lone wolves” are not really so: Indeed, the lone wolf portrayal of far-right extremism ignores the fact that these alleged loners on the right are actually embedded in networks that do preach violence. While there is no evidence to date of networks […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Center for American Progress, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Southern Poverty Law Center, Wisconsin

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Oak Creek

Thoughts and prayers for the innocent lives lost in Newtown, CT

US Assistant Attorney General visits Oak Creek, WI

SAAPRI and Sikh Religious Society to commemorate HR 1193

Quote of the Day: “strangers no longer”

IL state legislature passes anti-hate resolution

Is it enough to “Be proud”?

Former white supremacist speaks at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin

Moving beyond tolerance in the classroom

Discounting the “lone wolf” murderer