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Picture of the Day

August 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Saturday, during an interfaith ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, Jasjit Singh of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) addressed the audience gathered at the Lincoln Memorial as a representative of the Sikh community: “From four girls in Birmingham to six worshippers in Oak Creek, from a bridge in Selma to a march on Washington: we stand with you, we march with you, we serve with you.” Read more from SALDEF.

Categories: Events, Interfaith, Picture of the Day • Tags: Jasjit Singh, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King, National Mall, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund

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Graffiti spray-painted on the walls of the Gurdwara in Jurupa Valley, CA. (Source: Sikh24)

Vandal of Jurupa Valley, CA, Gurdwara, arrested

August 8, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A juvenile has been arrested in last week’s vandalism of a Gurdwara in Jurupa Valley, California, when the word “terrorist” was spray-painted on the walls of the Sikh house of worship: Investigators conducted a lengthy investigation into the vandalism that led to the arrest of a juvenile responsible for the temple vandalism. Subsequent investigation revealed that the same juvenile was also responsible for an ongoing vandalism spree that began in August of 2012, resulting in 33 separate vandalism crimes, totaling […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: California, Graffiti, hate crimes, Jurupa Valley, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, vandalism

"Terrorist" spray-painted on a wall at the Sikh Gurdwara of Riverside, in Jurupa Valley, California. (Source: PEBloggers)

Gurdwara near Riverside, CA, vandalized with graffiti

July 30, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Only days before the one-year anniversary of the shooting attack at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, the Sikh Gurdwara of Riverside, in Jurupa Valley, California, has been vandalized with the word “terrorist” spray-painted twice on its walls: “This is definitely a hate crime,” [Birpal Kaur, of SALDEF,] said. “It was very purposely targeted toward a minority community.” A police report was filed with the Riverside County Sheriff. Incidentally, Jurupa Valley, California, is also home to a school […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: California, Graffiti, hate crimes, Jurupa Valley, Riverside, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Gurdwara of Riverside, vandalism

SALDEF Leadership Development Program graduates. (Source: SALDEF)

Apply to the SALDEF Leadership Development Program

July 24, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

SALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund) is inviting applications for the third iteration of its Leadership Development Program, a “two-part program designed to inspire, train, and support a diverse, motivated, and entrepreneurial group of young Sikh leaders as they prepare for a lifetime of community engagement and leadership.” Further: The purpose of this transformational program is to empower Sikh American youth in becoming effective leaders committed to exploring and realizing both their personal potential and that of the […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Resources • Tags: LDP, Leadership Development Program, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund

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Still from "To This Day", a spoken word poem by Shane Koyczan.

Safe Schools Improvement Act reintroduced in US Congress

April 18, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A recent post on the Hyphen Magazine blog shares the parallel experience of two Sikh American men who were bullied in their school years: For both Gurwinder and I, physical confrontation became a matter of daily course at school. Gurwinder recalled, “A kid in class came up from behind and started hitting me. There were six other kids with him; they had me on the floor, stomping on my arms and back.” It is a story not uncommon for many […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reports/Studies • Tags: bullying, Safe Schools Improvement Act, SALDEF, Shane Koyczan, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, To This Day

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"Man allegedly sets counter at store on fire: Green Bay Fire Department officials said a man allegedly walked into a store at 1020 N. Irwin Ave. Tuesday, March 6, 2013, and set something on fire on the counter. He was arrested." (source: Green Bay Press Gazette)

Arsonist in Green Bay, WI, charged with hate crime against Sikh man

March 12, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On March 5, a man walked into a small retail store owned by a Sikh man in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and then set fire to the cash register using gasoline. According to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the county district attorney is now charging the perpetrator with a hate crime based on his comments that were recorded in the police report: [James] Parrish stated that he was going to “burn [the] place down.” He also stated […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Green Bay, hate crimes, Oak Creek, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

The Boy With Long Hair, by Pushpinder Kaur, is a coloring book published by the Sikh Foundation. (source: The Sikh Foundation)

SALDEF reports high rate of bullying of Sikh children in southern CA

February 21, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

67% of Sikh American children surveyed were bullied or harassed within the last school year and 31% have been threatened with physical violence or harm. These numbers are staggering compared to national averages and an indication of the serious challenges that our children continue to endure on a regular basis. — Jasjit Singh, Executive Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), reports from a survey taken by SALDEF of Sikh American students in southern California. A […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reports/Studies • Tags: bullying, California, Jasjit Singh, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Southern California, The Boy With Long Hair

California Governor Jerry Brown (seated) signs AB1964 and SB1540 into law at a rally at the California State Capitol last Saturday. Assembly Member Mariko Yamada (standing left of the Governor), Dr. Onkar Bindra (standing right of the Governor) and Sikh Coalition Advocacy Manager Simran Kaur (far right) joined the Governor. (source: Instagram user i2theb)

The Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2012: Victories in employment equality

January 9, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In 2012, there were two significant achievements for Sikh Americans in the realm of employment discrimination on each side of the country: the decision by Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department to accept observant Sikhs as full police officers, and the signing of a workplace religious freedom act in California. Both achievements have the potential to act as precedents for further success in dealing with employment discrimination that Sikhs have faced in the United States due to lack of accommodation of […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reflections • Tags: AB1964, California, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Employment Discrimination, Jerry Brown, Mariko Yamada, Metropolitan Police Department, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Coalition, Top 5 Sikh American Stories, Washington DC, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

Jasjit Singh Jaggi serves as a member of the NYPD with his articles of faith intact, but only as a traffic officer, after winning his religious accommodation case in 2004. (source: New York City Commission on Human Rights)

It may take a lawsuit for the NYPD to allow Sikhs to serve freely

December 19, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“There is no reason why the NYPD police officers can’t wear a turban and beard and do their job,” said [New York Assemblyman Dave Weprin] mentioning in particular that Sikhs’ beards [prevent] the use of gas masks is not true. “Sikhs can tie up their beards in a crop cut,” he said. …“They are not being as receptive to people that don’t look like them,” he said. — In the Gotham Gazette, New York Assemblyman Dave Weprin discusses the campaign […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Employment Discrimination, Gotham Gazette, Jasjit Singh Jaggi, Metropolitan Police Department, Metropolitan Transit Authority, MTA, New York Police Department, NYPD, religious accommodation, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Coalition, Workplace Discrimination

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: SALDEF

Picture of the Day

Vandal of Jurupa Valley, CA, Gurdwara, arrested

Gurdwara near Riverside, CA, vandalized with graffiti

Apply to the SALDEF Leadership Development Program

Safe Schools Improvement Act reintroduced in US Congress

Arsonist in Green Bay, WI, charged with hate crime against Sikh man

SALDEF reports high rate of bullying of Sikh children in southern CA

The Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2012: Victories in employment equality

It may take a lawsuit for the NYPD to allow Sikhs to serve freely