The 9-11 Aftermath and Backlash

News 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 on 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.*

Factoid

It remains true today, in the ancient tradition of ignorance,
that people of faith and otherwise good sense hasten
to ostracize and demonize any person or group
whose beliefs and customs are unlike their own.

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. But the people who wear turbans in the United States are Sikhs, members of the world’s fifth largest religion who trace their heritage to the Punjab region of India. See GoodGuysWearTurbans.com.

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. See March 6, 2011 killing of 2 Sikh men. See the 'Dream in Doubt' video.

Rana Singh holds a photo, left, and stands, right, at the Arizona
911 memorial to his slain 49 year old brother, Balbir Singh Sodhi.

Many hate crimes and incidents have gone unreported.

The federal government officially reported a 1700 per cent increase in ‘anti-Muslim’ hate crimes, just from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001. And this only includes crimes both reported to and recorded by police departments. Community and civil rights groups have reported thousands of hate incidents in the years 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 per cent of Sikh Americans, reported that they or someone they knew personally experienced a hate crime or incident, and 64 per cent 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. See MSNBC reporting of the March 2011 murder of Sikh man in California. See U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's comments.

Hate Crimes Continue In 2011

Arson at a Sikh business just prior to 9/11 commoration in North Carolina.

On September 8th, police were called in the middle of the night to the burning of State Line Grocery store, owned by Arvinder Singh in Clay County, NC. '9/11 Go Home' was spray painted along the wall of the grocery store and although locals believe this to be a hate crime, the investigation will continue. News reports confirm that Mr. Singh was not harmed, and was in his home nearby. This being a suspected arson crime, police are investigating. --

*Sources available upon request at: info@dwf-film.com.

See 'Divided We Fall' film. Also see 2012.