In order to make progress, we first have to acknowledge the fact that discrimination continues to permeate our society. We need to stop justifying hate-speech as harmless words, and we need to stop brushing aside hate-crimes as random acts of violence.
I know this is a strange thing for a Sikh to confess, but it's true: I used to be really intimidated by the Guru Granth Sahib.
Scholars have recently described this perceived relationship as a racialization of religious identity. This process has led to a conflation of Sikhs and Muslims, and therefore, has produced a corollary to Islamophobia -- Sikhophobia.
It's this sort of optimism that makes me believe that "looking different" has played a significant role in my way of "looking differently."
As someone who practices religion personally and studies religion academically, this story tears me up inside. There's so much I want to say about this. A lot of it is probably obvious, and a lot has already been said. But I do think this story raises an important question that we tend to overlook.
I'm proud to be American, but not at the expense of dehumanizing others.
The Sikh Spirit Foundation humbly announces the opening of its second application cycle of 2009 and humbly calls on the global community to submit their project proposals.
Grand Prize Winner to Receive iPod Nano. Submission Deadline is March 25th