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Oregon’s legacy of racial segregation

January 21, 2015 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The northwestern state of Oregon is known for its liberal culture and voting patterns, but this predominantly white state has a significant history in racial segregation and white supremacy. In an article published on Gizmodo by Matt Novak (via Jeremy Adam Smith), we learn of the explicit racist history that was pervasive in Oregon at the time of its establishment as a state and how that legacy would play out to the present day, in an attempt by some quarters to create a […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Astoria, Columbia River, exclusion laws, Gizmodo, Johanna Ogden, Matt Novak, Oregon, Racism, segregation, Sikh diaspora

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Heara Singh with bicycle, Crawfordsville, Oregon, c. 1900s. (Credit: Stephen Williamson)

Join the second annual Sikh Century Bike Ride on Nov. 2

October 25, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Saturday, November 2, 2013, a group of cyclists will be riding in the second annual Sikh Century Ride, a 100-mile route that begins in the historic city of Stockton, California and ends in Yuba City, where the largest Nagar Kirtan festivities in the United States will be taking place: We’re at it again! To commemorate the 100+ year history of Sikhs in the US and celebrate Sikh Awareness Month in California, the Sikh Century Ride will take place on […]

Categories: Events • Tags: California, Crawfordsville, Heara Singh, Oregon, Sikh Century Bike Ride, Stockton, Yuba City

"Sohan Singh Bhakna, second from the right, was arrested and jailed for his role in the Ghadar Partys abortive revolt against British rule in India. The former St. Johns mill worker, a major organizer and leader of the party, is shown here in 1938 at Amritsar Railway Station." (Photo: Kesar Singh, Courtesy of Amarjit Chandan Collection. Source: Portland Tribune)

Picture of the Day: Sohan Singh Bhakna

September 19, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article in the Portland Tribune traces the origins of the Ghadar Party movement to Oregon after a group of laborers from Punjab demanded justice for the attacks upon their community by racists mobs in 1910. The movement sought to promote revolution in India from British rule: Though there wound up being only one person convicted, the fight-back was a turning point for the Punjabi community here, Ogden says. New activist leaders emerged, including mill worker Sohan Singh Bhakna and […]

Categories: Picture of the Day • Tags: Astoria, Bruce La Brack, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, Sohan Singh Bhakna

"Jaljit Singh Khalsa, of Beaverton, sets the beat during the procession during annual Sikh celebration honoring Guru Arjan Dev Ji at it leaves the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh Temple, in South Salem, on Sunday, June 16, 2013." (Photo: Timothy J. Gonzalez | Statesman Journal)

Picture of the day: Nagara (traditional drum) in South Salem, OR

July 1, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Two weeks ago, the Sikh community near Salem, Oregon, commemorated the anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjun (fifth Guru of the Sikhs) in 1606, with a Nagar Kirtan (religious procession) through South Salem: The Dasmesh Darbar Sikh Temple organizes the event yearly to commemorate the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji. And while the Salem Sikh community is small — a few hundred families — the event is among the largest in the Pacific Northwest, attendees said. Sikhs from […]

Categories: Events, Sikhism • Tags: drum, Guru Arjan, martyrdom of Guru Arjan, Nagar Kirtan, Nagara, Oregon, Salem, South Salem

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"Granthi Amarjeet Singh, left, and Tina Kaur Rekhi of the Sikh faith offer a prayer Thursday morning at the annual Community Prayer Breakfast at Century Center in South Bend sponsored by the United Religious Community." (source: South Bend Tribune)

National Day of Prayer in South Bend, Oregon

May 3, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Yesterday, in South Bend, Oregon, 300 members of various faith communities came together for an interfaith commemoration of the National Day of Prayer in the United States. Despite. Participant Timothy Erdel, a professor of religion and philosophy, looks at the bigger picture of bringing diverse people together: “What’s most important to us, we may not share in common, but there are still important secondary concerns such as citizenship, peace, duty to neighbors.” Read more at the South Bend Tribune.

Categories: Interfaith • Tags: Amarjeet Singh, National Day of Prayer, Oregon, South Bend, Tina Kaur Rekhi, United Religious Community

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"Indians, many of whom were Sikh, worked at the Hammond Mill before its demise in 1922. During that time period, the Indians left their mark on Astoria, participating in wrestling matches, occupying Alderbrook also known as "Hindu Alley," and forming the Ghadar political party. Courtesy of Clatsop County Historical Society." (source: The Daily Astorian)

Celebrating the centenary of the Ghadar Party, in Oregon

April 8, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

One of the legacies of the earliest Sikh and Indian immigrants to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century was the creation of the Ghadar Party, a political movement based in northern California that sought to promote India’s liberation from British rule. Led by Indian expatriates in the United States, the Ghadar Party was formed in 1913. One of its main activities was the publishing of literature to promote resistance to British rule and for a free […]

Categories: Events • Tags: Astoria, Bruce La Brack, Daily Astorian, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, San Francisco, Stockton

Pawneet Sethi, a Portland Sikh, talks about wrapping his uncut hair in a turban. Many Sikhs refuse to cut their hair as a sign of respect for Godâs creation. Sethi spoke at âLet the Light Shine,â an annual lecture series at St. James Lutheran Church in downtown Portland. (Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)

Portland, OR Sikhs reach out to local religious community

January 20, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A recent article in The Oregonian shares a story about an education session at St. James Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon, in which Pawneet Sethi, a member of the local Sikh community, provides the church’s congregation with an overview about the Sikh faith: “Sikhs have a responsibility to talk about their faith practice with outsiders, he says, “but it’s freaking me out.” The audience of 25 chuckled at his confession and then listened intently as he walked them through the historical roots […]

Categories: Interfaith • Tags: Oregon, Pawneet Sawhney, Portland, St. James Lutheran Church

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Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall (source: CNN)

No solution to gun violence without meaningful discussion

December 12, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After yet another mass shooting in the United States — this time at a mall in Portland, Oregon yesterday — Congressman Eric Blumenauer made a statement today in the House of Representatives about the plague of gun violence that has now victimized residents of his home district: Mr. Speaker, one is haunted by these events—we had one in Aurora, Colorado in the theater where there were twelve people killed, sixty wounded;, six people killed at the Sikh temple this summer; […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits, Politics • Tags: Eric Blumenauer, gun violence, Oregon, Portland

Historian identifies Oregon’s forgotten Sikhs

July 23, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Johanna Ogden, in the Center for Columbia River History, brings together data from a variety of sources to map the Punjabi – and predominantly, Sikh – communities that lived along Oregon’s portion of the Columbia River at the turn of the century. In doing so, she sees evidence of the framing of early Sikh Americans as the “other”: Historical silences occur through the exercise of shared assumptions and work in devastatingly simple and effective ways. White pioneers are Oregon Country’s […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Resources • Tags: Columbia River, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, Punjabi, Sikh diaspora

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Oregon

Oregon’s legacy of racial segregation

Join the second annual Sikh Century Bike Ride on Nov. 2

Picture of the Day: Sohan Singh Bhakna

Picture of the day: Nagara (traditional drum) in South Salem, OR

National Day of Prayer in South Bend, Oregon

Celebrating the centenary of the Ghadar Party, in Oregon

Portland, OR Sikhs reach out to local religious community

No solution to gun violence without meaningful discussion

Historian identifies Oregon’s forgotten Sikhs