top of page

Interviews By Family Members

Questions: 

1.Have you ever experienced any form of discrimination after 9/11 for being a Sikh? What happened? 

2.How long after 9/11 did this happen?

3.Does this change your views of other races (people who have directed their racism towards you?)

4.If you could go back, how would you handle it differently?

5.What is the most important thing you learned from this experience?

6.Do you ever feel ashamed of who you are?

Interview by Kunwar Kaur

  1. Well, given the somewhat ambiguous nature of my appearance, most people aren’t exactly able to place me in a specific ethnic group.  The fact that I am Sikh isn’t evident unless my name or heritage is specifically asked about.  I will say this though, the ambiguity I just described definitely worked in my favor during the post 9/11 turmoil we faced.  And here is why.  Although I was never personally a target of racial/ethnic discrimination, members of my family, especially the men, were and sadly sometimes still are.  They were highly scrutinized for the physical “resemblance” they shared with the various faces of terrorism we were exposed to following the 9/11 attacks.  I put quotes around resemblance because to an untrained eye – one that is not familiar with the Sikh faith, background, and culture – Islamic turbans do in fact resemble a Sikh man’s turban.  Groomed, lengthy beards of an Islamic male do resemble the unshaven, un-groomed, untouched faces of a devout Sikh.  But to me, someone who grew up practicing Sikhism, this resemblance holds no merit.  We identify with a completely different group of people with completely different sets of views and beliefs.  Not to mention, to someone like me, even the turbans and beards are vastly different! As an 11-year-old at the time, I distinctly remember thinking, “how can people say we look like them? Have they seen my dad’s turban? It’s colorful and poised! Not lifeless and flat like they wear it.”  Needless to say, I was angry towards these terrorists and the fact that my dad, uncle, and friends were being treated differently for “looking like them” to those not privy to Sikh symbols and ways.  Digesting this was hard, to say the very least – and randomly hearing someone scream “Osama!” or the words “go back to your country!” while I was with my father didn’t help.  I was terrified someone would hurt him.  I was hurt by the ignorant comments.  We suddenly felt terribly unwelcome and unsafe in a country that was my home since the day I was born.  

 

  1. The discrimination was evident almost immediately after the 9/11 attacks.  And it was EVERYWHERE.  

 

  1. At the time, yes.  My views changed, especially regarding those considered “true Americans” - whatever that meant.  Even as a child, I knew that being truly American had nothing to do with the way you looked, your skin color, or the religion you practiced.  What I didn’t know was that these so-called “true Americans”, granted this status merely due to recent events, mainly belonged to the white race and that the color of their skin did in fact allow them to discriminate against us.  That was definitely news to me.  And I felt like I was just supposed to accept it and move on.  This is how I processed the discrimination I witnessed at 11 years of age and ’11 year old’ me was quick to denounce the white race as a whole.  Or at the very least, be wary of it.  Being young and all, there wasn’t much I could do to express this ball of frustration and feelings of injustice I had inside of me.  Even though my views had changed, I didn’t have the heart or courage to treat anyone differently.  And so, I didn’t.  But I did proceed with caution and fear, constantly avoiding conflict and begging my father to not wear his turban (and stick to his NY Yankees baseball cap) on a daily basis.  Overall though, in the long run, I would say no – my views on a particular race have not changed.  They may have changed regarding some particular persons, but definitely not an entire race.  

 

  1. Looking back, I wish my views hadn’t changed so drastically, even for the brief time that they did.  Soon thereafter, I would come to understand the reason behind a discriminator’s discrimination, ESPECIALLY in a setting as vulnerable as the post 9/11 period.  Fear and hurt – two sentiments ‘11 year old’ me understood so well – drove a lot of the discrimination my family and I experienced.  Looking back, it all makes sense.  Doesn’t make it right, but definitely makes sense.  If I could go back, I would shift my focus from the negativity brought upon by the fear and pain to the positivity and togetherness elicited instead.  It is human nature to look for comfort in times as grim as 9/11 and as far as I can remember, there were a multitude of events/gatherings providing that very comfort that we all, discriminators and those discriminated against alike, yearned for.  For many, many months to come, Americans would gather to make simple, yet meaningful gestures – gestures that showed compassion, togetherness and kept faith in humanity afloat.  If I could go back, I would channel my frustration, feelings of distrust and fear through the positivity offered by these communal gatherings. Also, I wish I could go back and acknowledge the hate I witnessed as the ignorance of a handful of people and not as the wrongdoings of an entire race.  But hey, all that understanding came with age.  ’11 year old’ me couldn’t possibly make that distinction.  

 

  1. The most important lesson for me after 9/11 was ironically to never discriminate against a group of people, with one notable exception.  If the group in question consists of terrorists and teachers of violence and hate, then by all means, discriminate.  But express negativity for the individuals themselves that make up the group of terrorists.  If placing blame is necessary, blame the INDIVIDUALS responsible for the attacks.  Do not disrespect the religion, race, and customs – that’s not something a true American would do.  

 

  1. I have never felt ashamed of who I am.  My religion, like all the others, promotes peace and humanity and is innately GOOD.  As long as that is true about who I am and the religion I practice, which I anticipate will be a very long time, I will never be ashamed of who I am and where I come from.  I embrace Sikhism and my Indian roots while subsequently recognizing and proudly accepting that I am an American.  And a true American at that! ;)

Interview by Roop Singh

1.       In grade school, we had monthly roller skating nights in the school gymnasium.  Kids would be allowed to skate around while music played on their grade was called.  I was in the fourth grade and it had just been a few months since 9/11, if that.  I was waiting for my grade to be called when I saw a family waiting with their daughter, my classmate, and their new baby.  I went over to look at the baby because she was very cute and the mom told her husband, “Get the baby away from the terrorist.”

 

2.       A few months after 9/11.

 

3.       Not other races specifically, but I found the racist people I encountered to be very ignorant.

 

4.       I walked away then and I would walk away now. However, now I know better not to let it affect my day.

 

5.       I learned that some people are easily misled and quick to jump to conclusions without giving it a second though.  We as a people need to stop being so willing to hate.

 

6.       When I was younger and was being called a terrorist, I felt ashamed of who I was because I was being gawked at by my peers and their parents.  However, when I saw that my dad and uncle continued to wear their turbans with pride without fear even when people were killing Indians with turbans and accusing them of being terrorists, I realized I had nothing to be ashamed of.

  • w-googleplus
  • Twitter Clean
  • w-facebook
bottom of page