Sunday’s shooting incident at a Sikh gurdwara in a Milwaukee suburb is only the latest example of a history of violence against devotees of the centuries-old South Asian religion since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In the majority of these cases, Sikhs say, they were mistaken for Muslims, because of their religious dress, which includes turbans, beards and long robes. The Sikh community, which totals around 314,000 in the U.S., is entirely separate from the Muslim faith. But in the wake of 9/11, violence against Sikhs spiked.
Prabhjot Singh, co-founder and trustee of the New York-based Sikh Coalition, started the group on the evening of 9/11 “to respond to the tragic events of that day,” he tells TIME. Sikh-Americans were attacked twice that day, he says: once by the terrorists, and once by “fellow Americans” who mistook Sikhs for Muslims. His organization, which fields reports of discrimination against Sikhs across the nation, serves as an advocate for all devotees of the religion and attempts to foster goodwill between Sikhs and other Americans. “We’re hoping this tragic incident can be used as an opportunity to engage in maybe a broader dialogue of xenophobia in America,” he says. The Sikh Coalition has received more than 1,000 complaints of violence or discrimination against Sikhs since September 11, 2001. Here are some of the worst attacks: Full story...
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Prabhjot Singh, co-founder and trustee of the New York-based Sikh Coalition, started the group on the evening of 9/11 “to respond to the tragic events of that day,” he tells TIME. Sikh-Americans were attacked twice that day, he says: once by the terrorists, and once by “fellow Americans” who mistook Sikhs for Muslims. His organization, which fields reports of discrimination against Sikhs across the nation, serves as an advocate for all devotees of the religion and attempts to foster goodwill between Sikhs and other Americans. “We’re hoping this tragic incident can be used as an opportunity to engage in maybe a broader dialogue of xenophobia in America,” he says. The Sikh Coalition has received more than 1,000 complaints of violence or discrimination against Sikhs since September 11, 2001. Here are some of the worst attacks: Full story...
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