News
and Views
Vandalism at the Sikh gurdwara in Fresno, CA.
Photo courtesy of Christian Parley, The Fresno Bee.
AMERICANS
IN THE AFTERMATH OF 9-11
Background Report of Post 9-11 Discrimination
Immediately
after September 11, 2001, an epidemic of hate crimes against minorities
swept the US. The wave of hate crimes and hate violence affected Muslim
Americans and anyone perceived to be Muslim: Sikh, Arab,
South Asian, Latino, and other brown-skinned Americans. Incidents
occurred in every part of the public sphere: houses, workplaces, airports,
school grounds, and street corners, in nearly every major city in
the United States. In targeted communities, temples were burned, homes
vandalized, families threatened, jobs denied, children bullied, women
harassed, men and boys beaten and murdered.*
Sikh men with turbans
and beards have been most
affected by post 9-11 hate crimes. This backlash violence has been
primarily directed at those perceived to resemble the enemy -- a turbaned
and bearded Osama bin Laden, the leader of the radical Al-Qaeda. Nearly
all people who wear turbans in the United States are Sikh, members
of the world’s fifth largest religion who trace their heritage
to the Punjab region of India.
On September 15, 2001 in Mesa, Arizona, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man, became the first person murdered in the hate epidemic. Out of the estimated nineteen people murdered in the immediate aftermath, four were turbaned Sikh men.
Many hate crimes and incidents have gone unreported.
The federal government officially reported a 1700% increase in ‘anti-Muslim’ hate crimes, from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001. This only includes crimes both reported to and recorded by police departments. Community and civil rights organizations have reported thousands of hate incidents in the year following 9-11, including at least nineteen murders.
Hate crimes are only the tip of the iceberg.
Violent hate crimes are the most obvious manifestation of a wide range
of racism and prejudiced behavior, including verbal harassment, threats,
staring, and avoidance. Qualitative research documents subtle forms
of discrimination that do not appear in police statements or newspaper
reports -- Sikhs, Muslims, and South Asians treated as perpetually
foreign, alien, laughable or un-American. Millions of Sikh, Muslim,
and Arab Americans have experienced subtle or overt forms of the post
9-11 hate epidemic.
Hate crimes and incidents have profoundly negative effects on targeted
communities. In a recent Harvard study, 83% of Sikh Americans, reported
that they or someone they knew personally experienced a hate crime
or incident, and 64% expressed fear of danger to themselves and their
families. Many members of the Sikh American community face deep-seated
feelings of fear, insecurity, and disorientation. Others indicate
bitterness or anger. Still others channel their frustration into positive,
hopeful responses. It is clear that the hate epidemic has dramatically
altered the social and psychological well-being of Sikh Americans
and other minority groups.
State-sponsored discriminatory treatment of Sikhs, Muslims, Arabs,
immigrants, and non-citizens is ongoing. “Private violence”
is carried out by citizens, “public violence” by the United
States government.
Soon after the immediate outbreak of private violence, our government began to allow greater provisions for racial profiling in both immigration enforcement and domestic security programs. While these provisions were meant to protect our national security, they have violated and further alienated groups who fall into designated categories. These groups include turbaned Sikhs who have consistently experienced public violence in the form of employment discrimination, immigration enforcement, targeted security searches, or prisoner abuse.
The hate epidemic persists today.
Many believe that these hate crimes disappeared after the initial 9-11 aftermath. However, spikes in hate violence in the United States correspond with terrorism abroad as well as critical moments in the U.S. war in Iraq. At the onset of the war in Iraq, three turbaned Sikh cab drivers were shot in the San Francisco Bay Area alone. Due to inconsistent classification and tracking procedures at local, state, and federal levels, there is no way to provide exact statistics for present-day hate crimes. While the number of hate crimes has not returned to levels reported in the aftermath of 9-11, qualitative research confirms that Sikh, Muslim, and Arab Americans continue to experience subtle yet damaging forms of discrimination in both private and public realms.
*Sources available upon request at: info@dwf-film.com.
See the 'Divided We Fall' film.
All About Sikhs From the U.S. Dept. of Justice
The New York Times About Sikhs
Americans Get An 'F' In Religion
