Hate-Crimes Against Sikh-Americans on a Rise

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 25 September 2013, 01:38 IST   |    3 Comments
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California: Sikh-Americans are finding it thorny to cope up with the mess caused due to their appearance. Some Americans believe that the turbaned Indian men are actually of Muslim religion and hence term them as Osama-like.

In a groundbreaking new study titled “Turban Myths,” researchers at SALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund) and Stanford University found that 70 percent of Americans misidentify turban-wearers as Muslim (48 percent), Hindu, Buddhist or Shinto.  In fact, almost all men in the U.S. who wear turbans are Sikh Americans, whose faith originated in India.

Other key findings:

Americans associate turban-wearers with Osama bin Laden, more than with named Muslim and Sikh alternatives and more than with no one in particular

49 percent of Americans believe “Sikh” is a sect of Islam (it is an independent religion)

70 percent cannot identify a Sikh man in a picture as a Sikh

79 percent cannot identify India as the geographic origin of Sikhism

“This research is critical to our community and confirms our real, lived experiences,” said Jasjit Singh, executive director of SALDEF.  “We also know that we most effectively bridge these perception gaps when fellow Americans come to know us as the teachers, doctors, coaches, Moms, Dads, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors and community servants we are.  This study provides a roadmap for creating the mutual understanding and recognition of shared values that can help us build an American community larger than ourselves, and one that includes Sikh Americans as full participants.”
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