Sikh Issues in a Post 9/11 World

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Sikh Issues in a Post 9/11 World

The Muslim Sikh community in the United States have been facing violence and discrimination against their people increasingly since 9/11. FBI: Dramatic Spike in Hate Crimes Targeting Muslims. (2012) . Retrieved from http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2012/spring/fbi-dramatic-spike-in-hate-crimes-targetin. According to the FBI, Anti-Muslim has soared by 50% in 2010 since the September 11th attacks. The groups of people who encourage these types of hate crimes are misinformed and prejudice against a whole religion, instead of focusing in a humane way on a group of terrorists that caused so much turmoil in the United States.
On September 15th 2001, 4 days after the worst attack on American soil, a Sikh owner of a Chevron Gas station in a Phoenix suburb was murdered by a gunman. This was one of the first major cases of violence against Sikh-American in wake of the attacks. The 42 year old gunman Frank Roque killed 49 year old Balbir Singh Sodhi because he was lashing out at "Arabs" after watching repeated footage of World Trade Center attacks on television. When Mr. Roque was being arrested he repeatedly shouted "I stand for America all the way." NewsFeed Timeline A History of Violence against Sikhs in the Wake of 911 Comments. (2012). Retrieved from http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/06/timeline-a-history-of-violence-against-sikhs-in-the-wake-of-911.
Violence like this is very common. Also, they have had their fare share of discrimination. According to The Sikh Coalition many have reported employment discrimination. Sikh Awareness.(2010). Retrieved from http://www.sikhcoalition.org/ .Most recently, Frank Singh was called a terrorist and fired by an AutoZone ...

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...r a headscarf. The only way to reduce and eliminate these issues is to educate Americans on their faith and way of life. There is a long road ahead for the Sikh community, but I hope one day the ignorance will subside, and we can all live in a peaceful country.

Works Cited

"Sikh Awareness." Sikh Awareness. © 2002-2012 THE SIKH COALITION, 12 Oct. 2001. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Carbone, Nick. "Time.com." NewsFeed Timeline A History of Violence against Sikhs in the Wake of 911 Comments. Time Magazine, 06 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
"Southern Poverty Law Center." FBI: Dramatic Spike in Hate Crimes Targeting Muslims. Southern Poverty Law Center /Intelligence Report, 06 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 14th Edition William A. Havilland; Harald E. L. Prins; Bunny McBride; Dana Walrath Published by Wadsworth, Cengage Learning (2014)

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