And The Hate Continues

I seem to be posting a lot of disturbing pictures of Sikh brothers these days. I wish these pictures didn't exist. I wish I didn'y have to post them. But this needs to be known.

I heard someone on TV say that the election of Barack Obama - if it happens T-5 days and counting - would herald the end of racism in America. I don't think so. In fact, I know not. How very naive.

This is from SALDEF:

Hate Finds Another Victim in New Jersey


SALDEF concerned about potential backlash in the coming weeks after historic Presidential election

Washington, DC – October 29, 2008: On Monday, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, documented a violent hate crime against a Sikh American man in Carteret, New Jersey.


Before dawn on Monday morning, Mr. Ajit Singh Chima walked out of his home in Carteret for his daily exercise. As he walked around his neighborhood, Mr. Chima was violently struck in the head by a Hispanic male who appeared to be in his twenties. As Mr. Chima fell to the ground, the assailant continued to violently punch and kick Mr. Chima in the head, neck and face before casually walking away from the scene. Nothing was stolen from Mr. Chima’s person.


Mr. Chima suffered four broken bones around his jaw and eyes. Other medical tests are ongoing to diagnose any possible effects on his vision or greater head injuries.

As of today, no arrests have been made. Upon learning of the incident, SALDEF alerted local police, the Mayor of Carteret, the FBI and other Justice Department officials and urged them to investigate the attack as a possible hate crime. Carteret Mayor Daniel J. Reiman acknowledged SALDEF’s concerns about post-9/11 hate crimes against Sikhs and reassured SALDEF that the attack would be properly investigated.


“In light of previous hate attacks against the Sikh American community, if theft isn’t an issue, and if the assailant isn’t known to the victim, we are left with a presumption that bias was a motive,” said Rajdeep Singh Jolly, Legal Director of SALDEF. “We want law enforcement officials to investigate this attack as a possible hate crime.”


The Potential for More


Over the past year, SALDEF and many other organizations have expressed concern about the use of ethnic and religious slurs in the context of the presidential campaign and the perceived acceptance from both campaigns that to be or perceived to be Muslim or Arab is negative. SALDEF has also documented an increase in verbal assaults directed toward Sikhs in the past 30 days.


For example, last month, a community member came to SALDEF regarding an incident that occurred in Providence, RI which could have resulted in violence. While waiting on the sidewalk for a companion to park their car, a Sikh American man was approached by a white male who got out of his vehicle and accosted him. The white male approached the turbaned Sikh male and allegedly stated, " I have a gun in my car and since you are a hajii no one will care if I kill you. You know why the police won't do anything? Because I got blond hair and blue eyes." As the assailant left, he screamed, "F*** Arabs and F*** Obama."


“The bias-filled rhetoric has reached a new high this campaign season and our community must be prepared for any potential increase in hate and bias crimes,” said SALDEF National Director Rajbir Singh Datta. “Individuals who feel no shame about verbally assaulting members of the Sikh American community usually just need a spark to turn violent. We fear the spark may be the outcome of the presidential campaign, regardless of who wins.”


This should not prevent Sikh Americans from voting on November 4, 2008. SALDEF urges all Sikh Americans to exercise their democratic right to cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice this election year.


As always, however, Sikh Americans should be aware of their surroundings; stay in contact with friends and family; and immediately report any incidents of harassment or violence to the police and to SALDEF at legal@saldef.org or via phone at (202) 393-2700.


CONTACT: Rajbir Singh Datta; media@saldef.org; 202-393-2700 ext 127

Update - Sukhvir Singh

Sunday, December 23, 2007 - Page updated at 12:00 AM


ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Cabdriver Sukhvir Singh was beaten by a drunken passenger on Nov. 24. The area's close-knit Sikh community was quick to help Singh after the attack and Singh says he is grateful for the supporters who helped him.

Sikhs bring comfort to injured cabdriver

By Karen Johnson
Times Southeast Bureau

It didn't take long for word to spread through the Sikh community when cabdriver Sukhvir Singh was beaten by a drunken passenger who called him an "Iraqi terrorist" and threatened to kill him.

In the days after the Nov. 24 attack, the area's tight-knit Sikh community worked quickly to help Singh, a Kent resident who moved here from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with his family in 1999.

A national advocacy group, the Sikh Coalition found him an attorney within days. Friends and community members asked if they could help Singh with money. A SeaTac-based Indian radio station shared his story live on the air. Around 400 people attended a candlelight vigil in Singh's honor.

Those closest to the Sikh community say they're not surprised by the swift response to Singh's attack.

Growing population

Since the late 1980s, the Sikh population in Southeast King County has grown fast, said Harinder "Paul" Bains, president of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha of Washington in Renton, the state's largest Sikh temple.

In the 1980s, many Sikhs fled to the U.S. to escape political instability in India.

These days, Sikhs continue to move to the area because of the community established here and to be near local gurudwaras.

Bains estimates the Sikh population in the state to be at around 25,000 to 30,000 and many of those who live in the state call Renton and Kent home.

"People want to be close to the gurudwara," Bains said. "In Sikh culture, this is our religious and social focal point."

The week after Singh was attacked, about 2,000 people attended a Sunday service at the gurudwara when a spokesman from the Sikh Coalition told the story of Singh's attack.

Singh says he is deeply religious and visits the gurudwara several times a week.

Grateful for support

Singh says he is grateful for the supporters who have comforted him in the days since he was attacked, but he is eager to return to work.

His doctors have advised him to stay home for much of December. Now he is worried about money.


The King County Prosecutor's Office has charged Luis Vázquez, the 20-year-old construction worker from Kent who police say attacked Singh, with third-degree assault and one count of malicious harassment, the state's hate-crime law.

Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or karenjohnson@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Update - Prejudice - Sukhvir Singh Ji Vigil - Part Two

A few words of advice I just gave a young friend about a completely different situation. I think I need to listen, too.

What you hate controls you. In time, you'll need your freedom.

Sukhvir Singh Ji is still in the hospital. His injuries are quite a lot worse than at first thought. He has kidney damage and other internal injuries. His son, Simranjeet says our religion teaches forgiveness. He's right, of course. That's easier said than done, though.



So the vigil has come and gone. And I was there for part of it, at least. The news story says that about 300 people were there. Everybody except me seems to be pleased with this turn-out. OK, I, at 55, still have the naivete of a teenager. And it was a cold, rainy night.


I had no intentions of going out. That torn gastrocnemius muscle in my left leg has been acting up and walking is again quite painful. But at the last minute, Lilly announced we were going, even if Raj had to carry me. Yech. I couldn't let that happen, so I bundled up and grabbed my cane and tried not to limp out. We didn't stay for langar. Too bad. It would have been hilarious to watch Raj. I was happy to see some nonSikhs there.



























Now, other cab drivers here have been speaking up. Although Sukhvir Ji's injuries were greater than others, this sort of event appears not to be so rare. I listened to a report last night on KIRO-TV with drivers discussing the problem. So in lovely, liberal Seattle, our brothers - I don't know of any Kaurs who drive cabs here - live with this evil on a daily basis. Disgusting!


I know of nothing that is more difficult for me to deal with than racial/ethnic/religious prejudice.

I suppose I was overprotected in this way growing up. My brothers were enough to keep anyone from doing much to me. At home there was no problem.




I did get a taste of it during our summers in India, though.Sometimes when we went to Kashmir, people would give us 'that' look. It is easily recognisable. I told Daddy one time, 'I don't think they like Sikhs.'


'Maybe they don't'


'Why not?'


'Why ask me? They're the ones who would know.'


So I ran up to one guy who had been staring daggers at us - I must have been about 9 or 10, but I was small and would have looked even younger - and asked, 'Why don't you like us?' I was always a bold and confident child.



He started to growl at me, but Daddy must have caught his eye. My Dad was one of those people who could turn a snarling pit bull into a cringing lapdog with a glance, and I imagine he turned his full glare on the unfortunate Kashmiri, who stammered something and slithered away. But the whole encounter made such an impression on me that I still remember it vividly 45 years later.



Of course, my most dramatic encounters with prejudice came in June and November, 1984. In fact, that is what made the biggest impression on me in Delhi. Not the blood, not the physical destruction, not even the dead bodies. The hatred. The hatred directed at me and the people I loved the most. Good people. People who were good to others.



It changes you. It changed me. I didn't want it to. That natural almost-but-not-quite arrogance is gone. I wish I could go back and have the easy belief that people are basically good that I had on October 30, 1984. How can I explain it to someone who hasn't experienced it? I know that I can never again look at


a picture of the lynching of an African American,


the bull-dozing of a Palestinian home,

the starved body of a Jew at Auschwitz,


the hacked corpse of a Tutsi in Rwanda...


shall I go on?...


without that hard knot forming in my gut, that feeling of kinship flickering across my consciousness, without putting myself in the picture...



Saying that, I also have to say that it has made me a deeper, more compassionate, spiritually richer person. But the price paid for that is terribly, terribly high. (See my blog header.)


With this latest attack on our brother Bhai Sukhvir Singh Ji, it takes a lot of will power, ardaas and simran not to give in to the instinct to hate. Oh, yes, the instinct, the very strong temptation is there. I want to beat the sh*t out of Luis Vazquez, the accused. I want to pull his hair out of his scalp. I want to...shall I stop? I think I'd better. I am not an enlightened soul, a Buddha, a Guru, a Messiah. I am just Mai. Harinder Kaur. A struggling, normal human being, just like everybody else.



Five - FIVE - of my younger Sikh friends have recently told me of encounters with this sort of prejudice. An interesting fact is where they live. India, England, Kenya. America, too, of course. And Canada. WHAT IS GOING ON? I wrote a post about Canada and Sikhs just a few days ago. It is so easy - and so wrong - to begin to doubt yourself.

A thought which belatedly occurred to me, a few lines from a song by Bob Lind:

...When all the crippled children you give strength too,
Lay their crutches down and walk away,
And you realise that all their Mothers hate you, ...

This is 2007. Isn't it time we outgrow our infancy as a species and mature at least a little? Prejudice hurts innocent people.


End of sermon.


Hospital Picture: Seattle Times
Vigil Picture: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

End of the song:

When at last your bitter problems all ignore you,
And you've come out clean, everything is done.
And you realise I've been through it all before you,
Come down and walk beside me in the sun,
Come down and walk beside me in the sun.

Vigil For Sukhvir Singh Ji

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, 28 November a candlelight vigil will be held for Sukhvir Singh. The vigil is being held at 6:00 p.m. at the Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Renton. The address is 5200 Talbot Rd South, Renton, Washington.

Please bring a candle and something to cover your head, since the sangat
will be reciting rehraas and ardaas for Sukhvir Singh at the vigil. If you are Sikh, why not show your pride and commitment and tie a turban? Be sure to dress warmly as the weather will be quite chilly. (Mai still has some mothering in her!) The vigil will start at 6:00 p.m. sharp.

Please, everyone who possibly can, come to this.

There are approximately 10,000 Sikhs in the Puget Sound area. Many will be there. I would like to see even more nonSikhs show up to show support. With about 3,203,314 people in Metro Seattle, that should be do-able. That would also show the world that Seattle is not the bigoted community that these several attacks on Sikhs in the last few years might lead some to believe.

I wish I had a picture of our brother before this attack to post. We need to see him as he is now,of course, but we also need to think of him as the strong, proud Sikh he is, not just as the victim of this mindless criminal.

If you do not live in the Seattle area - or even if you do, you can also show your support for
Sukhvir Singh by sending him and his family an email at
supportsukhvir@sikhcoalition.org.

If you don't know what this is about, please go to the preceding post, Sukhvir Singh - Local News