American Sikhs a small, misunderstood community

Associated Press

Ever since they arrived in the U.S. as farmers and lumber-mill workers in the late 19th century, Sikhs have struggled with how little Americans knew about the faith.

In 1907, a mob in Bellingham, Wash., who called Sikhs “the Hindus,” ran them out of town. (Bellingham officials apologized formally 100 years later.)

Over time, they established themselves in the United States with major temples from Boston to California. Still, they remained a small, often misunderstood community, readily identifiable by their turbans. During the 1970s Iranian hostage crisis, Americans often mistook Sikhs for Iranians. Vandals attacked some temples after the Oklahoma City bombing, committed by white U.S. Army veteran Timothy McVeigh.

So when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, the Sikh community immediately began organizing, working closely with U.S. Arabs and Muslims on domestic anti-terror policies that respect civil rights.

The massacre Sunday at the suburban Milwaukee Sikh temple left six Sikhs dead and several people wounded, including a police officer who responded to the scene. Authorities have identified the gunman as Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran described by civil rights groups as a neo-Nazi and white supremacist. Police have called the attack Sunday an act of domestic terrorism.

For Sikhs, the attack was the latest — and worst — of a string of horrific assaults on their community. Many of the recent attacks have been outright hate crimes. Others remain unsolved.

Just four days after the 2001 attacks, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas-station owner in Mesa, Ariz., was shot and killed by a man who mistook him for a Muslim and was seeking revenge. Last year, a New York City subway worker and Sikh, 30-year-old Jiwan Singh, was assaulted on a train and accused of being related to Osama bin Laden. His son had been attacked two years earlier. In Elk Grove, Calif., a Sacramento suburb, two Sikh men were fatally shot last year during an afternoon walk. No one has been charged with the crimes.

Sikhs leave their hair uncut and covered by a turban as outward demonstrations of and reminders of their faith. For the same reasons, they carry a small ceremonial dagger, called a kirpan.

“They are identifiable. Both Muslims and Sikhs are visible minorities,” said Diana Eck, a Harvard University professor and director of The Pluralism Project.

As early as the 1990s, Sikhs in Washington and other major cities began organizing, building relationships with leaders of other faiths, Eck said. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, Sikhs around the country reached out with more urgency.