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MySikhSense.com

Dialogue for those who dare.
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Television now in color!

One Skin, Different Perspectives
"There needs to be a conversational relationship
between white eyes and colored eyes in America."


White Eyes                              Colored Eyes

"Sunshine is the best remedy for dirty laundry." I.J. Singh

"Looking at the one and only Black Family native to SDI/3HO/KRI
after 50 years
from my perspective as a person of color I have to
ask, why are there so few Black Families? How many White Families
vs. Black Families are there after 50 years? Oh sure, there are a few
African-Americans
, but they are disproportionately represented.
Think about the optics from the perspective of most people of color.
Do people of color see this disparity as a positive or as a negative?
And how many Black Kundalini Yoga teachers-trainers are there?
Isn't it time for there to be some serious mixed-race adult dialogue?

Detractors: Kindly answer questions before vilifying the messenger.

The key indicator that organizations have come of age is when steps
are taken to permit open dialogue on the issue with people of color.
BTW: When asked if one Black Family after 50 years is an issue
of concern, some Sikh Dharma ministers agreed. But when asked
why the issue is never discussed, they were unable to answer.
Discourse is not meant to stir up feelings of guilt. Discourse is
meant to drive people to action against injustice. Question is
are we mature enough to sit down and discuss issues
of tribalism, including race, religion, and gender?"

"Are there even occasional conversations between White eyes and
Colored eyes regarding the issues of diversity and racism and
their impact and complexities within the American community today?
Issues to do with diversity are not going away just because we deny
their existence, or because they cause us discomfort to discuss. We
must promote pluralism as did Guru Nanak throughout his ministry."

"Exclusion breeds intolerance. Intolerance breeds tribalism.
Tribalism breeds racism. Racism is contrary to Guru Nanak's message.
Inclusion begets tolerance. Tolerance begets diversity. Diversity begets
pluralism. Pluralism is the essence of Guru Nanak's message to humanity."

"The human mind was created to discriminate, e.g., make choices between
up and down, in and out, black and white, etc. We must remain aware of our
tendency to use our discretionary abilities in order to marginalize and repress
people with whom we differ. We need to constantly see to it that we advocate for
pluralism, against tribalism, in the interest of justice as taught by Guru Nanak Dev.
Our choices are to live for each other, or to live at each other." Hari Singh Bird Khalsa

*"In 2013, the population of African Americans, including those of more than one race,
was estimated at 45 million, making up 15.2% of the total U.S. population." Source.
U.S. organizations should therefore reflect about 15 African Americans out of every 100.

My Sikh Sense


Gurukarm Kaur

Sat Nam! Having just finished reading Gurumukh Singh's (Mark's) essay largely in response to Siri Vishnu Singh's rebuttal of Awtar Singh's situation, I want to call attention to the fact that within the 3HO/Western Dharma, there have been many known instances of White men committing the same or similar transgressions that Awtar Singh was accused of (see details), which was given, apparently, as the reason for preventing him from participating in Summer Solstice 2013 and later events.

As far as is publicly or widely known, there were no official repercussions against those men (if there were such, it is NOT widely nor publicly known); any number of them have continued in the Dharma in various leadership or respected positions. That is, they've been tacitly, if not publicly, forgiven for their acts, with no consequence to their participation in the Dharma.

So, my point? Why? Why them, and not Awtar Singh, if not for blatant racism? --

See What Racism Looks Like. See Sensitivity Summit. See What Diversity Is. See What Diversity Is Not. See Why don't Sikh women tie turban?

"Looking at the one and only Black Family native to 3HO/KRI/SDI
after 50 years from my perspective as a person of color I have to ask,
why are there so few Blacks? Oh sure, there are African Americans
represented, but they are disproportionate in number. Do other people of
color see this disparity as a positive or as a negative?" Hari Singh Bird Khalsa

"It's obvious, given the Awtar Singh Khalsa family being the
only all Black family in 3HO/Sikh Dharma after 50 years,
that a more acceptable and effective way needs to be found to
relate to marginalized populations in order to be consistent with
the teachings of Guru Nanak. I suggest taking his message to the
prisons where marginalized people are." Hari Singh Bird Khalsa

"Think about it. From 1789 to 2009, one African American out of
forty-four Presidents of the United States." Obama43To1.com

"Since the election of President Obama many Americans claim to be weary
of the ongoing conversation about racism. Think about the weariness of
people of color who have waited for centuries for substantive discourse
to occur. That conversation has only just begun." Obama43To1.com



 

More MySikhSense.com

Pages And Points To Ponder

                                          

                                 

Why Don't Sikh Women Tie Turban? Desmond Tutu's Plea To Israel.
See The Homeless Banned And Jailed In 'Christian' America.
See Let's Have 'The Race Conversation' For Real, This Time.
See More Diversity Dialogues. See Institutionalized Racism.

See Required Reading. See Recommended Reading.
See Why Are White Tantra Yoga Classes So 'White'?

See Islamic Extremism vs Christian Extremism.

See A Native American's Thanksgiving Rebuke.
See What White People Need To Know.

See Americans Need To Pay Attention.
See What's Wrong With This Picture?
See A Case Of Unjust Enrichment.
See A Classic Case of Tribalism.
See What Tribalism Looks Like.
See Guidelines For Facilitators.
See For The People Of Color.
See What Is White Privilege?
See KRI Needs To Go To Jail.
See Jon Stewart On Racism.
See The Ubuntu Philosophy.
See TheMahanTantric.com.
See Example of Tribalism.

See ACT For Diversity.
See Comments Con.
See Comments Pro.

See Obama 43 To 1.
See My Main Point.
See Turbanators.
See Sikhs Shine.
See Sikh Tribes.
See Definitions.
See Questions.

My Sikh Sense
By Anonymous VIII*

Sat Nam! I am stunned at this (see commentary above). Simply stunned.

Thank you for this! --

*NOTE: The anonymous author of this commentary has requested anonymity for reasons of possible retaliation and/or recrimination by those persons who wish to maintain the status quo.

"It's difficult to get a person to understand something when their paycheck depends on their not understanding."

My Sikh Sense


Gurusahai Kaur Khalsa

Sat Nam, Hari Singh!

Thank you for sharing the Yogi Bhajan's Teacher link with us (see reference below*). It was an interesting read for me. I appreciate that you would like to embody this spirit in the Summer Solstice Security Team. However, I would also like to offer some thoughts for your consideration. BTW: This commentary has turned out to be rather long, so I have put a few bottom-line suggestions at the end if you want to simply scroll down.

I have walked this path for a little over 20 years. In the beginning, I was present at Winter Solstices with my family, and I listened to the stories Yogi Bhajan told when he visited camp. I also listened to the stories the "old-timers" told that had been with him from the beginning. I remember him saying that if you had had 40 yoga classes you were ready to teach. I remember the lessons he delivered to people, some seemingly kind, and others seemingly harsh, sometimes seemingly throwing people into the fire.

In those days, we had yoga classes here in Tennessee, which I attended. We had an Ashram here that had weekly Gurdwaras and I attended these as well. I was teaching a yoga class that primarily consisted of recovering drug addicts. But even with all of that, I did not learn many of the lessons that you speak of until I started taking martial arts a few years ago. The Discipline of my Kung Fu school and the strict nature and demands of my Sifu (teacher) are where I have gained these attributes. I have not found them to be present in the path of Kundalini Yoga as it has been presented to me over the years. I am not saying it was not there but more that I did not see it.

Over time, I noticed that the stories of the early attendees at Solstices were still there, but things began to become "softer". The focus changed and the people that came were different, not seeming to need as much of the harsh measures as were needed in an earlier time. There was much more of an emphasis on being a "yogi" with the headiness of frequent meditation, but less emphasis on daily discipline, or even basic respect of others as human beings. (See Diverstiy Dialogues.) It became more about what you could gain personally from the practice. So on a personal level, I walked away, choosing instead to do my own practice and continue with a more disciplined Sikh-style practice. (See Guru Nanak's message.)

More recently (about 7 years ago) I returned to 3HO and a little later took the Yoga Teacher Training Level 1 Course. I still notice an emphasis on being the "yogi" in the people that come to this path, and I still notice very little understanding of Discipline or of Service, but there is present a willingness to learn, and even a willingness to serve. But, that said, based on what I have seen of the attendees that come to Solstice now and what I have seen in those that attend teacher training, I do not think you will have very good outcomes if you continue to demand that they step into a role that was set up 20 or 30 or 40 years ago.

I do not think that you have enough people that understand that consciousness that you describe of Service and Discipline. Most of those that I see at Solstice and that I interact with on my own Kitchen Team have to be met where they are, and led very gently into a place of a different understanding. Most of them are very happy to serve, but they are not willing to give up their life in order to do so, and with the Security schedules set up the way they are now, that is how people tend to see Service on the Security Team. I do not believe that you can simply demand that people see things differently and expect them to do so.

There will always be people like one fellow who was willing to take a shift that lasts the entire night, who are willing to make Service their entire experience at Solstice, but these are rare. We do not live in India. We do not live in a society that teaches or even appreciates the value of Service. We live in a society that values things, and applauds those that can get more for themselves. Most of the people that I have seen getting Service Scholarships are those who have not had the privilege of collecting a lot of "things" in this world, and they acquire the Service Scholarship simply to be able to experience the life of a "yogi". Many have little understanding that to be a "yogi" also requires Discipline. Many have very little understanding of Service in the way that the Master taught it. To ask people to stray very far from where they have been raised is asking a lot, and there are few people who can inspire that kind of sacrifice.

I don't know that I have a lot of advice on how to make things better where Security is concerned, or that my opinion or observations are even helpful. I only have the experience of being Manager of the kitchen clean-up Team. When I began that Seva, it was woefully understaffed, and people saw the Seva as "undesirable" much as they currently see the Security Seva. Our work hours were longer than those of anyone else in the kitchen, and the work was more physically demanding. So it required more of people than they were expecting. It also required more of me as a leader. I did not have protocols set up. I did not have schedules. I did not have an understanding of the enormity of the task I was to lead. It took every ounce of Discipline that I possess, and some that I did not, to change the energy and the perception of that Team.

Now, my people are happy, and I get a fairly impressive return rate of about 70% of those returning to Solstice. I am fiercely protective of my Team and I am more than willing to fight for them if necessary. I set out very clear expectations of them in the very beginning, and I tell them what I see as our challenges and ask them to come up with solutions. I do a lot of team-building exercises with them in the first few days that we are together so that they learn to function as a Team and to solve problems as a Team. This year that included a good bit of martial arts exercises. This year, we actually ended up doing some Chi Gong and some "sticky hands" exercises with each other on a daily basis. I find that these kinds of things are essential to having a Team that is happy and works well together. And this year, a surprising outcome of doing this was that my Team happily put in extra hours when needed, they came in during lunch on White Tantric days, and they helped other Teams that were short staffed, even though we too were short-staffed.

This year was unusual for me in that for the first time I actually offered to share some of my team-building exercises with another Team. I ran into the Security Manager one day and she was extremely stressed, so I asked her how I could help her. She asked me to come do with her Team what I do with mine.

When I walked over to the Security Team meeting, it was an interesting contrast to my own Team. They did not have any Team cohesiveness, they did not have the confidence in or knowledge of each other's strengths and weaknesses in order to be able to solve problems and challenges as a Team. What I felt from them was tension and frustration. And my sense was that many individuals were reacting to that by sniping at each other. It was amazing to watch all of that change as I simply gave them the space and the tools to function as a Team by doing the same thing I did with my own Team. Another amazing thing to note was that after that day, I did not see the stress in the Security Manager nor in the Team members that I had seen that first day.

So, the bottom line for me is that I believe that a couple of fundamental things need to change.

. I believe that team-building is essential, especially for the Security Team with their multiple shifts where they never see each other.
. I believe that more realistic schedules need to be put in place, and it sounds like that is being taken care of. I also believe that Security needs to become more of a "village" concept with all Teams taking a little piece of the burden so that the Security Team is not overworked.
. I believe that you need to offer some "extras" for the Security Team to entice people to join the Team and to return to the Team.

That may go against everything that 3HO stands for, or that everybody believes, but I think when you are fighting a negative perception it helps to do things like that to change the perceptions of people.

For instance, my Team gets little bites of cake given to us by people that we serve. They get Chi Gong exercises at our daily meeting. These "perks" do not have to be big, but they are in place to give people a sense of belonging, a sense of being "special", that their time and energy is worth a little extra. It has been my experience that when you give that to people, they often become willing to give you more than you ask for, especially in the Solstice setting where they are already willing to serve.

The negative here is that I do not feel that our Security Advisory Team, S.A.T., can put any of these things in place. 3HO Management could help with that by providing leadership training to all Managers that includes how to do these things (including team-building and team-problem solving) and why they are important. But in the end it is up to individual Managers to implement them for their Teams. And some of us are better at that than others. That is where training can help. My one concern is that 3HO Management may think it is a great idea, but it will go no further.

I hope you find this commentary to be helpful in your considerations as we move forward.

Blessings. --

*Reference: Hari Singh's Previous Post

Sat Nam, Security Advisory Team! Good morning!

We have discussed the issue of over-extended Solstice Security Team members several times just as we did at yesterday's meeting. This is an important aspect for our consideration, of course. But let's be mindful of where our Teacher, Yogi Bhajan, came from, and his training when we discuss the stretch that our Security Team members are asked to make in the name of Solstice Seva/Service/Security.

I remember that the Master Yogi Bhajan never thought our Solstice Sadhana was harsh enough, i.e., Solstice Sadhana is a spiritual retreat, an actual "Sadhana", not to be confused with a pleasant vacation. Please take time to check out this link. It may give you some notion as to the Master's perspective.

YogiBhajansTeacher.com

Be well.

Hari Singh Bird --

Click here to add your thoughts. Read me first.

"It is incumbent on those who know to teach those who do not know."

"It is incumbent on those who do not know to surrender their ego."

My Sikh Sense


Gurukarm Kaur

Sat Nam, Hari Singh! I don't myself have the pleasure of knowing Gurusahai Kaur (above), but I wanted to tell you how impressed I am with her writing about her experiences and understanding of the needs around Seva/Service at Solstices. Thank you for sharing her thoughts.

Wahe Guru! --

My Sikh Sense
By Anonymous IX*

Sat Nam, Hari Singh!

I did read this page (MySikhSenseRacism.com), and I have to say that I am quite possibly the least qualified person on the planet to speak to the topic of racism. That said, it seems to me that the material you presented is greatly oversimplified and overlooks a great deal of sociology and group psychology. I do understand what you are trying to present, but again, I am quite possibly the least qualified person I know to comment on it.

A little background on me may help you understand why. I was raised in a household that was full of extreme prejudice. I remember once spending my summer with my grandmother, who lived in a neighboring state. The rule of the week was that we all went to church on Sunday. One Sunday I was standing outside the church chatting with my cousins while waiting for my grandmother when a little girl of about 8 or 9 years old rode by on her bicycle. My cousin's response was to take the shotgun out of the rack in his truck, point it at the child and tell her she had no right to be on that sidewalk. I was horrified! She was a child merely riding her bicycle, and her only crime was that she had a different color of skin. What right did my cousin have to point a gun at her? But such was the climate of my family.

Move forward a few years to when I was in college majoring in Engineering. I was one of three females in the engineering program, and I worked very hard for the grades that I got and eventually graduated magna cum laude. So you can imagine how insulting it was to have a young man ask me to allow him to cheat off my paper so that he could also have good grades which would allow him to keep his part time job. It was even more insulting to have him accuse me of sleeping with the TA's to get ahead (not true in the least) and to denigrate me for not sleeping with him. This man was married with a small child. He was also Black. And he accused me of racism because I refused to have sex with him and because I refused to allow him to copy off of my papers.

Also in college I had a good friend that lived next door to me in the dorm. I visited her frequently and we would study together as she was also in engineering. But, let her other friends enter the picture, and everything changed. Now, that is not an uncommon phenomenon, but here the problem was that when her other friends entered her room they all immediately began talking in a slang and accent that I could not understand or follow, sort of a language that was prevalent in the Black culture of the time. So I was effectively excluded from the conversation. When I took a sociology class later, the professor stated similar talking points as the 18 that you post on the website. I take exception to the fact that the "White man" is held solely responsible for all of the racism in the country, and I said that to the professor. She was not pleased with me, but could not argue the fact that it goes both ways when I presented my experience with my friend.

Move forward yet again to when my children were young and my husband was coaching their sports teams. The "star" was a Black girl who thought she deserved special treatment for her talents. But she was obnoxious and nasty to the other members of the team. So my husband told her if she could not reign in the insults that he would sit her out of the game. She told him that he could not do that because she was the best player he had. He, of course, sat her out. She had never had anyone demand that she be respectful, and after that day, miraculously, she was always sweet and respectful to my family. But still, she felt it necessary when I would take her home to parade around the "valley", having me drive past the place where drug deals are commonly made, and having me drive through some of the sketchier places in her neighborhood before she directed me to her home. She thought it amusing to have a White woman driving around a Black neighborhood, and was truly trying to make me uncomfortable.

But, once out of the drug areas where even she was uncomfortable, what I saw was a neighborhood with well-kept homes, where people still sat out on their front porches, where the community kept up with what was going on with the kids and the elderly, where people came out and helped others with their yardwork, in other words, what I consider to be a true community, and I was not uncomfortable there. Going forward in this girl's life to high school age, she had been coddled and allowed to be consistently disrespectful. She was a smart girl, but refused to do well in school because in her community she was ridiculed for studying or for being even remotely interested in schoolwork. The only acceptable thing was sports. She went to college on a basketball scholarship, and was often suspended from games because of her disrespect of coaches and other players. She got pregnant in her sophomore year and gave birth to a baby girl. But still she managed to go back to school and to graduate with at least a 2-year degree.

Move forward again in my life to a time when I went to school to get my PhD and had to teach a senior level biochemistry class. What I saw was a great deal of segregation, far more than I ever experienced when I was young, but it was not at the hands of the "Whites". It was solely the doing of the "Blacks". They sat in solidarity in the middle of the classroom, all together, and would cut a White person to the core with words as well as aggressive confrontational stances if they so much as dared to walk into the rows of seats that their group had claimed. I watched this happen at every single class until no White person was bold enough to approach their rows. I watched these students simply assume that it was their right to go to medical school when they were making Cs at best in my class, and were not willing to work.

The standards in the class were the same for everybody, and everybody was graded the same, everybody had the same access to study groups and study materials and help if they needed it. In fact when I graded tests, I did not even see the names so had no idea whose paper I was grading. Of this group of about 25 Black students, I had only 1 that ever contacted me for help, only one who sincerely wanted to improve her performance, only one who showed up at the study sessions before an exam, and I watched the rest of them laugh at her for her efforts. None of that was White-driven, but was more of an expression of the sociology of the group. And it was not so much an issue of affording college or grad school as much as it was a reflection of this same sociology and group psychology.

So, I can say that the points that you post are, to my mind, oversimplifications of a far more complex issue. My experiences do not play out the truth of what you have posted.

As for the racism in the pictures you post, well, for the most part the people I am seeing are of the "old guard", those that were there in the beginning with Yogi Bhajan, and for whatever reason, the vast majority of those were White. I suspect the reasoning for that is also a reflection of the sociology and group psychology of the people who were attracted to this lifestyle in the '60s and '70s. I do not think it is quite so cut and dried as a Black versus White racism issue now. And in the one picture where you show a group of Black people holding yoga mats with a person in White with a white turban, well, I would join that group for yoga and feel no discomfort. The thing that I gravitate to is the turban, and that is the symbol that brings a sense of belonging to me, not the color of the skin (or lack of color).

I keep going back to the place of asking what the Guru's court would have looked like. If you were to walk into a Gurdwara service in the time of Guru Ram Das, would you see diversity? Would you see many skin colors? Would you really see many castes? Or in the time of Guru Gobind Singh, what would his court look like? He hired a good number of Khans, but as far as I know they were not among his council. People spend money and time on what is important to them. So, are the pictures you post really representative of the whole of 3HO, or merely representative of those who have the money, time and inclination to travel. Additionally, this is the U.S. Would a Khalsa Council picture taken in, say, Africa, look different? Would one taken in India look different? You do minimally address "tribalism" but the overwhelming sense that I have from the Web page is that Black-White racism is the same thing as "tribalism" and I do not believe that to be true. (See Racism. See Tribalism. Watch Tribalism For Those Who Dare. See What Is White Privilege?)

These are just some of the initial reactions to the Web page. My hope is that you will see them for what they are intended to be, merely my opinion, and not a very educated one at that. My passion is service, and I believe that if all are served equally, regardless of what they look like or what the circumstances of their lives are, then things will balance out in time. I understand that your focus is different and you are more concerned with projection. That is not an area that I can say too much about since I spend the majority of my time trying to fade into the woodwork, not project outward for all to see.

Blessings. --

*NOTE: The anonymous author of this commentary has requested anonymity for reasons of possible retaliation and/or recrimination by those persons who wish to maintain the status quo.

"It's difficult to get a person to understand something when their paycheck depends on their not understanding."

Click here to add your thoughts. Read me first.

My Sikh Sense


Sat Avtar Kaur

"Blessed are those who serve others without caste or creed discrimination.
They are the ones who find heaven on the Earth." Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam. I have learned through the years that when an idea, pushes and pushes to express itself, through me, then it needs to be said. However, I kept waiting and waiting for the pushing and shoving to go away, but it did not. It Did Not. LOL

Anonymous is an interesting word. Dictionary meaning: "Without any name acknowledged, as that of author, contributor or the like, an unknown name, whose name is withheld."

I can understand that if you are a government employee and you are leaking secrets of how our government is spying on its citizens and to avoid having a assassination drone sent after you -- that you speak Anonymously.

The only threat here, is blackmail or the thought of it, if you speak out. If you think that you are going to lose all your friends, then you will. And if you do lose them, then they never were your friends. Friends do not desert friends because you hold different ideas. Friends are there for you as you are for them.

By being Anonymous, you are supporting a group or organization that you don’t believe in.

Well, I don’t believe you either, you can’t write ‘your beliefs’ or ‘your experience’ and not name yourself.

When you are Anonymous, YOU are the PROBLEM. You and the Silent ones, who never speak up or stand up for themselves. You are the problem.

But that is not the case here in this discussion on Diversity. It is too late to be Anonymous. This is the Time spoken about. Time to Stand Behind YOUR Words. Your Words.

If you are a Sikh, how can you protect the defenseless, Anonymously?

Sikhs are the champions of justice. We are the security for the entire world. "If the Khalsa falls, there won't be a world at all."

“We are the Dharma for the Aquarian consciousness: 'get yourself together so that you can serve.' So that all people know their Creator, any way that works for them."

Siri Singh Sahib warned us that if we are not known for our seva by 2006 then we would be persecuted.” https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Kundalini-Yoga/conversations/topics/15735

Can you be anonymous and protect the world? Can you be anonymous and follow Yogi Bhajan?

Can you be anonymous and Serve? Can you be anonymous and be the ‘Dharma for the Aquarian Consciousness’?

Be the Lighthouse, Be the Forklift - Tribute to Yogi Bhajan How can you remain Anonymous and be the LightHouse?

And do you honor Yogi Bhajan by being Anonymous? Is this what Yogi Bhajan Taught?

How to be Anonymous? Is this the path that Yogi Bhajan took

Change is hard. Change is uncomfortable. You have to step completely out of your comfortable "habit box". Change takes a lot of work. Change is moving forward and growing into who you really are.

I invite all of you that have posted Anonymously to become Your Real Self, by standing behind Your Words with Your Name.

Blessings. --

See What Diversity Is. See What Diversity Is Not.

Be The Lighthouse

My Sikh Sense


Ravitej Singh Khalsa

Sat Nam, Hari Singh! All these diversity concerns, anti-plurism, firewalls to change have to do with the same thing. The Piscean Age was the age of the rise of Whites. And through that time, color was more and more classified as inferior. And if the governments of what think of themselves as the ruling class admit that all people are equal, then they also have to admit they are not superior. That is Aquarian Age. But the ruling White class has an ego (and fear) that cannot let go of it’s believed superiority, Piscean Age. And that requires a shift in consciousness, Aquarian Age. So we do indeed live in interesting times. See The Signs of Kali Yuga.

My Sikh Sense


Gurumukh Singh

Sat Nam, Rubyji, et al.

While Dharam's microaggression incident was as a volunteer, like Dharam's, your story puts the stamp of veracity on the fact that they know when they're doing wrong. As in breaking the law, not simply being an exclusive Sikh (Sick?) clique. I assumed that many "family" businesses were in fact not simply Kaur and Singh (Mom and Pop) size being run off of a dining room table. You know, workin' by da' sweat a' your brow kinda thing. But big enough to require HR directors, EEOC / AA compliant reporting and record keeping. In other words, big enough to sweat you and making you sweat. This is the first confirmation, I've had that they have (whoever they are: Granola? Sunshine Oils?, Akal?) been put on notice, straight from the Yogi's mouth.

I guess I wasn't too far "off base" (ahem, sorry couldn't resist) for insisting on that data in our public discussion. If only to say look, even by the grossest of criteria, the extremely lame civil rights remedy law, you are discriminating, disparate impact indeed. Personal bias Types I and II, amplified by institutional power, to at least Type III (Unconscious Institutional -- "Officially Unaware" No policy, training, compliance, or Organizational Development), if not Type V (Illegal Conscious Covert Institutional, i.e., extensive dirty tricks). When those dirty tricks become legal standard operating procedures and policies which discriminate on a mass scale, you have Socio-structural Violence Type VI.

You make the distinction because of course, the tactics shift with the Type, and the Structure supporting it. There is no such thing as an impenetrable fortress, just fortresses that are badly attacked. Some walls can be prayed or chanted down, others have to be scaled...

What would be nice, if you could expand upon the story, from an HR directors perspective, its illustrative, adds gravitas. If you wanted to take down a wall, a pocket black hole could be handy. Our collected stories, heavy enough, can move people.

By way of explanation of the attached photo... a thought experiment. One of his fellow judges, said of Thurgood Marshall, that he didn’t have to say anything, that his mere presence could be felt, shifting opinion. Gravitas they called it. When I say something, people say I have a chip on my shoulder. I think of it as a bead of neutronium, the last state of star stuff matter before it becomes a black hole.

Neutronium weighs 80,000 tons per cubic millimeter. 1,771.1 G Surface Gravity. I figured if you had a cubic mm of neutronium, the pressure of gravity would force it into a sphere anyway. 160,000,000 lbs. It would be explosive if it weren’t inside a neutron star. And a cubic mm of neutronium would be spherical, assuming it was not a rapidly expanding sphere, for some magical siddhi-juju reason.

People say, Black people obsess about slavery… well The Dolben’s Act in British law specified a limit of how many slaves could be put on a ship. 5 slaves per 3 Tons of carrying capacity. 240 slaves per 140 tons. 500 ton ships like the Parr could carry 700 – 800 slaves. An 8mm neutronium bead = 1969 nearly 2000 slave ships, or 1.8 million people in chains… if that weren’t heavy enough that object has a surface gravity of at least 14.2K G’s. Gravitas, indeed.

Who knows how many of our stories, will break down the walls. --

Click here to add your thoughts. Read me first.

My Sikh Sense


Gurumukh Singh

Sat Nam! If a matter is urgent (Sensitivity Summit), 3HO/Sikh Dharma can't move quickly... gradualism. If it costs them money, if there is legal exposure, maybe, they might move faster. That type of parliamentary procedure is not designed for expedited action on matters deemed critical outside of the deliberative body.

My email of last Sunday... just before work began again for me, I found the attached PowerPoint...

The LBGT community can speak for themselves, but basically its the same struggle here in the States. Khlasa Council, 3HO, SDI, will face other diverse parts of the Sangat which will make their own demands for equity. It's cool that same sex marriages can be performed by Sikh Ministers in Canada, and probably South Africa, for that matter, and other nation-states, and states that permit it. But will we here in the States?

It's basically the equivalent of Liberation Theology, in Catholicism (mostly concerned with feeding the poor, and political equity, and social justice in U.S. supported dictatorships in Latin America), or Black Liberation Theology, of which King's SCLC was a conservative part of that. What would a similar movement look like in American Sikh Dharma?

My students, doing some R&D for me, (We were researching internet based materials on microaggressions) found this piece by of all people, Catholic Bishops, from 2007. I offer it as a model of understanding... hoping you all have access to Powerpoint... and a 2.6MB file will make it through your filters.

I particularly like the cool graphic of looking beneath the surface slide 18, and then the cool explanation of structural racism on slides 32 and 43.

Wow, I thought to myself... this was sanctioned by Catholic Bishops?! Gee what would one sanctioned by Khalsa Council look like?

SALDEF is modeled after MALDEF, which are essentially legal defense funds organized by people of color to combat discrimination using the courts and legal processes. But the position of SALDEF is that a "minority" religion, is being persecuted by a "Western = White" majority.

We shall overcome someday. More on Racism. --

My Sikh Sense


Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

If you don't know me, I started the Sikhnet.com website almost 19 years ago as a teenager out of high school. SikhNet has always been a place for Sikhs and Seekers from all over the world to connect and be inspired.

To show a bit of the diversity that SikhNet serves, I wanted to share an article that I wrote. It's about my personal experience as an American-born Sikh with parents from Christian and Jewish backgrounds; the changing world of Sikh Dharma, and how people from different cultures and continents are connecting with this lifestyle, along with some lessons I have learned, and how I personally apply the teachings of Gurbani and Sikh Dharma in my life and through SikhNet. Read my full article here. --

My Sikh Sense
By Anonymous VI*

Sat Nam, Hari Singh.

I posted this article (from your Jeff Chang commentary) in my group site and this is what I got from them:

Quote: That attitude is part of the problem. Notice this was written before the grand jury evidence was released (which in itself is extraordinary - grand jury evidence is generally sealed).

Evidence that corroborated Darren Wilson's story, and (Black) witnesses that confirmed that Michael Brown did NOT have his hands up.

Instead, after being shot several times, according to the witnesses, Brown lowered his head and charged at the officer like a football player, which is when the fatal shots were fired into the top of his head.

If there was no struggle for the officer's gun, then how did the gun have Brown's DNA on it??

The whole response to this incident was racist, from the instant it happened - by blacks who were uninformed, uninterested in the truth, and looking for an excuse to advance their agenda and go on a rampage. This is irresponsible journalism at its worst.

If you haven't read it, don't waste your time. UnQuote

I am sure there are plenty of incidents in which the person being shot did not do anything to provoke the cop.

And I think it is time that our police be held accountable for their actions.

Blessings. --

*NOTE: The anonymous author of this commentary has requested anonymity for reasons of privacy.

"It's difficult to get a person to understand something when their paycheck depends on their not understanding."

My Sikh Sense


Hari Singh Bird Khalsa

Sat Nam, Anonymous!

Thank you!

That Blacks "attitude is part of the problem" is the typical, self-serving, reactionary and diversionary rhetoric of many 'White Eyes'. This is why White Eyes need to sit down, shut up, and listen to Blacks, First Americans and other People of Color followed by some serious and sincere dialogue for a change, e.g., see SensitivitySummit.com.

Note: It is not possible for White Eyes to ever have the life experience of Colored Eyes. The best that can happen is for White Eyes to attempt to get it vicariously via some real and serious discourse.

I agree that whatever the facts of the Ferguson case are, the preponderance of history and repression favors the protests of the Blacks, First Americans and all Peoples of Color. And I would remind your author of the central point at Obama43To1.com and the commentaries and additional links at MySikhSense.com.

BTW: White Eyes and Colored Eyes can benefit from this video. Watch this. --

 

My Sikh Sense
By Anonymous VI*

Sat Nam, Hari Singh. I posted your reply (above) and this is what I got from them:

Quote I just have one more thing to say about Hari Singh. On his site, he claims to be encouraging a conversation about the racial problem in this country. Yet the instant a different viewpoint is presented, without giving anyone else an opportunity to comment, he shuts it down and dismisses it with derisive comments ("typical, self-serving, reactionary and diversionary rhetoric of many White Eyes") that will keep anyone who follows him from expressing any similar views.

So, rather than reacting like an enlightened individual, open to a free discussion that honors all views, he has reacted like a typical liberal - "I want to encourage this conversation as long as you all agree with me. If you don't agree with me, your viewpoint doesn't deserve consideration." Can you not see that he is doing exactly what he's complaining about "White Eyes" doing - not listening to the other side?

Did you share with him the links I gave you earlier to other blacks' views? If not, I ask that you share those links, that post and this one with him, but without my name. If he wants 'White Eyes' (which seems a strange derision since he also has them) to listen to his point of view, then he needs to listen to theirs as well.

It is not only my perception. It is also the perception of others in this group who have contacted me privately. Un-Quote

Blessings. --

*NOTE: The anonymous author of this commentary has requested anonymity for reasons of privacy.

"It's difficult to get a person to understand something when their paycheck depends on their not understanding."

My Sikh Sense


Hari Singh Bird Khalsa

Sat Nam, Anonymous! Again, thank you!

I challenge your 'friends' to submit any counterpoints to the ongoing MySikhSense.com discussion, ONLY if they can deal with whatever critical feedback they'll probably receive. I challenge them to stop whining and complaining about what they currently see on MySikhSense.com and participate in the discussion.

Furthermore, I challenge them to review the entire MySikhSense.com site and the associated links in order to become more culturally literate on the subject of race and diversity. It's obvious they tend to criticize the book before reading it.

To the point that I only present one side of the race issue, only one White Eyes so far has contributed a counterpoint and it has been posted for some time. Bring it!

Finally, I consider myself able to speak with some authority re race since I was blessed with a mixed race heritage and a life experience whereby I have lived my life as a Colored Eye and White Eye, which has given me a very unique and dual perspective. --

My Sikh Sense
By Anonymous VI*

Sat Nam, Hari Singh. I posted your last reply (above) and I just got the nastiest reply to me about positing your challenge.

They are mad at me for supposedly sharing information that they have posted in their private group. And most of all they don't want to hear any more about you. Or, from you.

I think I am going to quit the group. They are not acting like friends or adults.

Blessings. --

*NOTE: The anonymous author of this commentary has requested anonymity for reasons of privacy.

"It's difficult to get a person to understand something when their paycheck depends on their not understanding."

Diversity
Enough said!

 



 


More MySikhSense.com

Pages And Points To Ponder

                                          

                                 

Why Don't Sikh Women Tie Turban? Desmond Tutu's Plea To Israel.
See The Homeless Banned And Jailed In 'Christian' America.
See Let's Have 'The Race Conversation' For Real, This Time.
See More Diversity Dialogues. See Institutionalized Racism.

See Required Reading. See Recommended Reading.
See Islamic Extremism vs Christian Extremism.
See A Native American's Thanksgiving Rebuke.
See What White People Need To Know.

See Americans Need To Pay Attention.
See What's Wrong With This Picture?
See A Case Of Unjust Enrichment.
See A Classic Case of Tribalism.
See What Tribalism Looks Like.
See Guidelines For Facilitators.
See For The People Of Color.
See What Is White Privilege?
See KRI Needs To Go To Jail.
See Jon Stewart On Racism.
See The Ubuntu Philosophy.
See TheMahanTantric.com.
See Example of Tribalism.

See ACT For Diversity.
See Comments Con.
See Comments Pro.

See Obama 43 To 1.
See My Main Point.
See Turbanators.
See Sikhs Shine.
See Sikh Tribes.
See Definitions.
See Questions.

    

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