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Islamophobia spreads to US Sikh community
Published: 16 October, 2009, 08:54
Edited: 17 October, 2009, 06:53
Prejudice against the Muslim community in the US is spreading to other ethnic groups. Sikhs say they are facing discrimination from people who mistake them for followers of Islam because of their dress and skin color.
There was a rash of attacks on Sikhs in Northern California right after 9-11; fortunately nobody was killed here in town. My neighbors at the time, who were Sikh, switched for a few weeks from wearing turbans to wearing baseball caps. One drunk man crashed his truck into a sacred pool in front of the local Sikh temple. I credit the local paper for publicizing the attacks and educating the population about the Sikhs. In recent years there have not been nearly as many problems, so it appears the education program worked. I can't say the same for all towns or NYC or Washington DC, though. Sikhs have been living here for a couple of generations, and they are gradually moving into positions of influence in various towns. So it behooves most people to avoid calling names, because they could be insulting a brother-in-law of the mayor or the president of the town's biggest employer.
This is just the sort of appaling ignorance that allows leaders in the US to start wars in foreign countries. It would now seem - with considerable evidence if you look at the locations the US military are active in / interfering in - that any country without a white, Christian, or Jewish, majority are 'fair game'. And the US think that they are the most advanced and civilised country on earth...................