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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

Harpeet Singh Saini testifies at a US Senate hearing about the mass shooting that took his mother during the 2012 Oak Creek Gurdwara mass shooting in Wisconsin. Photo: C-SPAN

Thoughts on the US Senate hearing on hate violence

September 21, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Wednesday, as many had, I watched the webcast of the US Senate hearing “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism” in which testimony was given by various government agencies and representatives of points of view in relation to hate violence. Among those providing testimony was Harpreet Singh Saini, one of the sons (his brother Kamaljit Singh Saini was also in attendance) of victim Paramjit Kaur, who was killed in the shooting rampage at the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Daryl Johnson, Dick Durbin, extremism, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Harpreet Singh Saini, hate crimes, Hate Crimes & the Threat of Domestic Extremism, Herb Kohl, Kamaljit Singh Saini, Oak Creek, Paramjit Kaur, Richard Blumenthal, Wisconsin

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UPDATE: US Senate hate crime hearing tomorrow

September 18, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding their hearing “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism” in Washington, D.C. (note room change): The hearing entitled “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism” scheduled before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 2:30 p.m., in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building will now take place in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Harpreet Singh Saini, Hate Crimes & the Threat of Domestic Extremism, hearing, Oak Creek, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Coalition, United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Civil Rights and Human Rights, Wisconsin

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Picture of the Day: Lt. Brian Murphy makes first public appearance

September 17, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Oak Creek, WI police officer Lt. Brian Murphy, who was shot multiple times during the shooting rampage on the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin last month, made his first public appearance this past Sunday at a fundraiser for the victims of the attack: The event benefits the victims of the shooting. Lt. Murphy offered a thank you. But had to whisper, because he was shot in the throat. “I just wanted to let everyone know how appreciative I am, my […]

Categories: Picture of the Day • Tags: hate crimes, Lt. Brian Murphy, Oak Creek, Punjab Singh, Wisconsin

Is a “man in a turban” unpatriotic?

September 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Satinder Singh Malhi, a member of the staff of California State Senator Mark DeSaulnier, talks about his experience growing up as a turban-wearing Sikh and how ignorance continues to impact him even today (via @sepiamutiny): After he appeared on DeSaulnier’s behalf at a Memorial Day ceremony this year, an angry mother of an Iraq War veteran emailed the senator, denouncing Malhi’s presence. She wrote that a man in a turban “is a poor choice to represent you” at a patriotic event. […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Profiles • Tags: AB1964, California, California State Senate, Mark DeSaulnier, Oak Creek, Satinder Singh Malhi, Wisconsin, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

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U.S. Senate to hold hearing on hate crimes next week

September 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Next Wednesday, the Unites States Senate Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on hate crimes in Washington, D.C. The meeting will be chaired by US Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, who has a history of supporting the civil rights of religious minorities in this country. The hearing will bring to the national stage a discussion about domestic hate groups in this country. From the Sikh Coalition: (New York, New York) September 12, 2012 – In the wake of […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Politics • Tags: Dick Durbin, Hate Crimes & the Threat of Domestic Extremism, hearing, Oak Creek, Sikh Coalition, United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Civil Rights and Human Rights, Wisconsin

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Republican VP nominee Paul Ryan introduces resolution to condemn WI Sikh attacks

September 11, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“I’m proud to join Rep. Paul Ryan as an original cosponsor of bipartisan legislation denouncing this act of terror against the Sikh community in Wisconsin,” Royce said in a statement. “We must educate the public, letting them know of the commitment to service, equality, and tolerance embedded in Sikhism. The resolution might not offer consolation to those haunted by that violent attack, but it does display our commitment to religious tolerance.” — Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) co-sponsors a bill tabled […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Ed Royce, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Paul Ryan, Wisconsin

An all-of-the-above approach to addressing gun violence

September 5, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

With news of other shootings in the United States — at a high school in Maryland or at the the Empire State Building in New York — the spotlight increases the continued plague of gun violence in this country and our failure to address it: [08.15.2012] The shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and, most recently, at the Family Research Council offices in Washington D.C., have reinvigorated the national debate over gun control, an […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: gun control, gun violence, Oak Creek, Wisconsin

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Picture of the Day: Outreach by word, and also by food

September 4, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Ranjeet Chhabra, of Carbondale, Illinois, used Indian cooking at an interfaith food event as her way to educate others in her community about Sikhs: The event is a weekly meal that began with feeding the community after the May 8, 2009, derecho. Chhabra learned about the event from her daughter and felt that after the Aug. 5 shooting at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wis., the event would be a good opportunity to teach people about the Sikh religion. […]

Categories: Interfaith, Picture of the Day • Tags: Carbondale, Gaia House Interfaith Center, Illinois, Oak Creek, Ranjeet Chhabra, Wisconsin

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Oak Creek

Living post-eight-five

Thoughts on the US Senate hearing on hate violence

UPDATE: US Senate hate crime hearing tomorrow

Picture of the Day: Lt. Brian Murphy makes first public appearance

Is a “man in a turban” unpatriotic?

U.S. Senate to hold hearing on hate crimes next week

Republican VP nominee Paul Ryan introduces resolution to condemn WI Sikh attacks

An all-of-the-above approach to addressing gun violence

Picture of the Day: Outreach by word, and also by food