A Sikh Account Of Living In America

[HSD1]

http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/being-sikh-in-america/?src=recg

From 1988 to 1993 I was a graduate student at New York University. Like many nonobservant Sikhs, I did not wear a turban, but I did keep a beard. When I would travel to small-town America, my appearance sometimes gave rise to a barely concealed hostility, occasionally even a comment or two.

I am not claiming that such incidents were the norm, but they were not uncommon.

Once, as I was stepping out of my own apartment in Jersey City with a bag slung over my shoulders, the police pulled out a gun and searched me. On another occasion, camping in North Carolina, I was made to stand in a police car’s high-beams with my hands over my head, again with a gun pointed at me, until the cops saw my white companions.

The years I am talking about precede 9/11 by a decade. As far as I can see, post 9/11, it has become considerably easier to express and act on such prejudices. My point, though, is this: these prejudices have always existed in the United States, and they are not restricted to white supremacists.

So while it’s understandable that in the wake of the Wisconsin killings President Barack Obama is intent on acknowledging the Sikhs’ contribution to the United States, the Sikh religion is being praised for its inclusiveness and some Sikhs hope to cast the incident as an opportunity to be better understood, these well-meaning efforts are absurd.

Does anyone really believe that if Sikhs are recognized for who they are, they will no longer be figures of hate?

Looking at the problem this way is a classic case of stigmatizing the victim instead of the perpetrator. The white supremacist views of Wade M. Page are what count. It is they that need to be confronted head on, and they cannot be confronted by pretending that they are the aberrant manifestation of an isolated fringe.

The 200,000 or more Sikhs in America should know something about this. Their encounter with prejudice dates back to their first wave of immigration to the West Coast at the beginning of the twentieth century.

After landing in Vancouver, Sikh immigrants soon began moving down the West Coast, working in lumber mills and at building the railways. As soon as 1907, in the town of Bellingham in Washington, white workers attacked Sikhs — whom they mistakenly termed Hindus — eventually cleansing the town.

A local newspaper editorialized: “From every standpoint it is most undesirable that these Asians should be permitted to remain in the United States. They are repulsive in appearance and disgusting in their manners. They are said to be without shame and, while no charges of immorality are brought against them, their actions and customs are so different from ours that there can never be tolerance of them.”

As Sikhs started buying land the backlash against them, as well as against the growing number of Japanese and Chinese immigrants, continued. The 1913 California Alien Land Law prevented them from owning land and even invalidated prior purchases. A U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1923 barred them from obtaining U.S. citizenship, upholding an act of Congress that “excluded from admission into this country all natives of Asia within designated limits of latitude and longitude, including the whole of India.” The law was overturned only in 1946, as India was about to gain its independence from Britain.

By recalling these incidents, I claim not to capture the entire history of Sikh migration to the United States, but simply to illustrate that the hatred white supremacists manifest against Sikhs today has deep roots. Rather than focus on who the Sikhs are, Americans should look back at their own history and decide what they want to be.

The author makes an important point. Rather than talking about how to differentiate ourselves from muslims, we should also face up to the fact that certain racists will never change their beliefs, especially if they are not made to face up to them by those around them in society.

[chatanga1]

so where does this begin do you think?

[HSD1]

Well it's a bit late in America as this Wisconsin thing has all blown over. Having Sikhs on TV saying 'We are not Muslims' was just stupid. It let the racists off the hook and almost made it look like it was a case of mistaken identity. The truth is the guy was dumped by his girlfriend and took it out on the easiest brown target he could find.

Having missed this opportunity, the best thing Sikhs could do is to keep the racists at arms length with better security and other forms of deterrence. The whites are like the muslims, they cry about attacks on them but turn a blind eye when their own lot are getting up to it.

[chatanga1]

The truth is the guy was dumped by his girlfriend and took it out on the easiest brown target he could find.

do you think that non-white might be more accurate? i have heard (and seen) people attacking other racial groups just cos they want to beat someone up.

[dalsingh101]

Just passing through for a moment. Very interesting article. The guy is spot on. Truth is that all societies need deeper reflection on their more ...(how to put it...???) darker side.

It's like societies play this game where some image of a positive norm is maintained, whilst all manner of insidious, hate-filled negativity wafts about in the background. It's a hard nut to crack. One way of fighting this type of stuff is to marginalise this from the 'mainstream' (the current employed tactic) and there is a fear that disturbing the hornet's nest might 'normalise' the hatred (like the BNP are trying) and make things even worse.

At a base level we are talking about extreme manifestations of ego (haumai) here. How do you make people let go of irrational hatred? (Other than somehow forcing them to interact with the 'other' until their cognitions change). How do you make people relinquish perceived 'privilege' for a more open exchange between different communities? To me it seems as if the communities who are physically the weakest are at greater risk of predatory attacks, and let's be frank, these days almost every last Sikh, Amritdhari to mona is aspiring to material success and wealth in some competition with one another. The only way to fight this is to make it in the interests of the perpetrators NOT to attack Sikhs. I personally witnessed 'Asians' doing this during the late 80s/early nineties in what was consider one of the worse areas of anti-Asian racism. Those guys made BIG sacrifices and used extreme violence to achieve this end (and lately it's dawned on me just how successful they were with the way that brown people largely dominate areas of E. London and can roam about safe and unmolested in places where this was notoriously impossible a few years ago).

Apnay in the US don't seem to have ANY stomach for what is required to achieve the above and instead seem to almost beg acceptance in a very emasculated way?

Predators always go for the weak. The question is whether we have now become ...really weak?

[HSD1]

The victim's families said they dont want any revenge attacks. If it were to happen again though...

Another thing I noticed is that there have been stories of suspicous white men being arrested at the Wisconsin Gurudwara since the attack. There is a chance this Nazi git will be seen as a hero/victor and a martyr by his own, and the Gurudwara may become some kind of shrine/mecca for these weirdoes. How should US Sikhs stop that?

[dalsingh101]

The victim's families said they dont want any revenge attacks. If it were to happen again though...

The question is whether US apnay even have the balls/stomach for a 'revenge attack' period. I've spoken to a guy whose done time in teh US and the jails oveer there are heavily segregated into racial groups, so if someone does something and does time they would probably have to join the Latinos/Mexicans/Red Indian groups because they obviously wont get into the black or white groups. Then we have to ask how accepting these other brown people might be (or not).

What really needs to happen is an increase in anti-white supremacist sentiment. It needs to be a key issue. But then from all accounts the kind of devious shite we can expect from honkys here in the UK (when it comes to work for example) doesn't seem to take place over there, so....????

Look, maybe there is no way of avoiding it and it has to get played out - as horrible a thought as that is.

Another thing I noticed is that there have been stories of suspicous white men being arrested at the Wisconsin Gurudwara since the attack. There is a chance this Nazi git will be seen as a hero/victor and a martyr by his own, and the Gurudwara may become some kind of shrine/mecca for these weirdoes. How should US Sikhs stop that?

Sam way 'Asians' united in the 70s/80s to defeat the NF, Sikhs need to form strong links with other groups under similar threats.??

[HSD1]

The thing is there will never be an increase in anti-white supremacist sentiment. Their own community see them as part of the various wings of the political spectrum. As they will never be their victims, they have no real motivation to do anything. Look at Norway, a rich country which attracts immigrants to fill jobs that Norweigans wont do. Their society tolerated and even encouraged the right wing to balance out other sections as it is considered 'free speech' to hate. When Brevik attacked, a lot of people blamed Muslims. People on the Daily Mail site were frothing at the mouth and talking about bombing Pakistan for some reason. When it turned out the attacker was white... they blamed multiculturalism and said Brevik was the victim for having to put up with immigration and watch his country be 'destroyed'. Even today, Brevik gets thousands of gifts and letters praising him everyday from all over the world, some even from white people who emigrated to majority non-white countries! Maybe we should face up to the fact that the whites are nowhere near as objective or honest as they like to think they are. In fact they are as duplicitous as any other group on a community level (like certain muslim nations or hindu extremists). Look at Greece as well, the Golden Dawn are given free reign by the army, police, judiciary and other sections of the population. In Germany they have banned the communist party but not the nazi one. It's almost as if the elites in each country keep them on hand as they know how to manipulate them and know these people need vindication and organisation. Look at the EDL, the backers are all English businessmen/women who like to have a rent-a-mob on speed dial. We cant be naive enough to think that these people will one day get over themselves.

As for 'merica, it's a lot different to here. I know Sikhs who work in rural parts and how weird it is to see people with Nazi tattoos coming into their shops to buy stuff and talking normally to them. They dont seem to hate unless they can get away with it or they see a soft target. Sikhs are just to spread out as well, America isnt like the UK where everyone is packed like sardines. In all honesty, this is a problem for Sikh Americans/Canadians to figure out, I just dont know enough about what goes on over there.

[dalsingh101]

White supremacism CAN be possibly made into an issue. Especially as they get more desperate and do more effed up shit.

As the numbers of 'ethnics' grow, we can maybe make it an issue like African-Americans did in the US.

[dalsingh101]

Plus - really, US Sikhs need to man up a bit. They are allowed to carry guns (hidden firearms permits) legally!! And defend themselves......

Go figure.

Imagine that was allowed here in the 70s/80s. There would have been a lot of dead skinheads - I tell you that much.

[HSD1]

I think you place too much faith that muslims and goreh actually want harmony or peace. They are all pretty petty and mistrustful of others, most likely due to them projecting their own insecurities on others. Even if the idiots are kicked out of the mainstream, they'll still be in the background, waiting for a chance to mess things up.

The Americans really do have a lot of chances to protect themselves. As well as guns, they can build Gurudwaras how they want as America has a lot of open space. Security systems are a lot easier to get hold of too. Putting their heads on the sand and thinking this wont happen.