The National Sikh Campaign's (NSC) mission is to promote a better understanding of the Sikh community in America and other Western countries and to project a positive image and profile of the Sikh community. Sikh Americans are more likely to be the victim of a hate crime than an average American.
To spread awareness of their religion and curb hate-driven crimes toward their community, this American Sikh advocacy group launched a $1.3 million advertising campaign in April 2017. The efforts included grassroots events, television ads, digital ads, and significant news coverage. The TV ads were produced by the National Sikh Campaign and aired at specific times around the country, on CNN, Fox News, and local channels in Fresno, California, which has one of the highest concentrations of Sikhs in the country and is infamous for its high rate of hate crimes.
Reaching out, busting myths
The group claimed that the goal of the "We Are Sikhs" advertising campaign is to dispel myths about the Sikh faith and its followers.
According to Gurwin Singh Ahuja, former Obama administration staffer and executive director of the National Sikh Campaign, the Sikhs are the least understood faith in America. Several issues need to be addressed to improve the awareness of Sikhism and perceptions of Sikh Americans nationally and in local communities throughout the United States. “It is common for Sikh kids to be bullied. Mothers have to be extra vigilant to make sure their kids aren't being harassed. There is significant discrimination in the workplace. In some cases, people have even been killed." he added.
Sikh Americans have seen more violence and bigotry over the past 15 years. In the first month following 9/11, 300 hate crimes targeted Sikhs, and many Sikh Americans claim that they don't feel safe. During March in the year 2017, a 39-year-old Sikh man in Seattle, Washington, was shot in the arm while working on his car. Deep Rai told police his white attacker yelled “Get out of our country!” before shooting him.
“Sikhs are often perceived as religious extremists or terrorists simply because of their turbans and beards, which are often kept unshorn for religious reasons. Our community decided that we needed to take a stand by using this campaign to share the Sikh American story and share our values,” said Ahuja.
The Campaign Strategy
In the ads, the basic tenets of the religion, founded over 500 years ago, are explained. In addition to being the fifth largest religion in the world, it is also the third largest monotheistic faith after Islam and Christianity. It is estimated that over 25 million people follow Sikhism, embracing progressive values such as gender equality, religious tolerance, social justice, and community service.
It has been over 100 years since the first Sikhs settled in the United States, and the Sikh Coalition estimates that there are now over 500,000 people living in the United States who follow the Sikh religion. The National Sikh Campaign's ad campaign focuses on this legacy, according to Shawn Singh Ghuman, the communications director for the National Sikh Campaign.
As Shawn Singh Ghuman explained, “We want to showcase to our neighbors how quintessential our immigrant story is to the American dream. It’s fundamental to our religion that we work hard and put in the effort to better ourselves and our generations and our communities.”
As a result of the commercials, viewers are reminded that many Sikhs share common interests with Americans. The TV ads showed Sikhs as American neighbors going about their daily lives, professing patriotism and national values, but also sharing a love for the TV series “Game of Thrones” and the children’s show “Sponge Bob Square Pants” — to combat the mistaken negative perceptions because of their turbans and beards.
The impetus for the Ad Campaign
Ghuman claimed that the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, massacre in 2012, in which a white supremacist shot and killed six worshipers where all of the male victims were wearing turbans served as the push for the campaign.
It is estimated that 99 percent of Americans who wear turbans are Sikhs. Still, according to surveys that the group has conducted, 60 percent of Americans do not know anything about religion. There is a devastating effect on Sikh children as a result of this lack of awareness. A 2014 report by the Sikh Coalition found that over twice as many turbaned Sikhs suffered bullying in school. The average age of the children is between 12 to 18 years.
Ghuman said that the turban was one of the most misunderstood articles of faith. The Sikh community has seen a lot of discrimination and hate violence because of this severe lack of knowledge about the faith and the turban.
Some religious communities have taken on similar grassroots initiatives as part of their efforts to spread awareness, such as the "I'm a Mormon" campaign that was started by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, Ahuja said the "We Are Sikhs" campaign is the first of its kind.
It is planned that the National Sikh Campaign will measure the effectiveness of the campaign by polling public awareness in specific areas of the country before and after the campaign will run for four weeks.
"It will be a wonderful opportunity to explain our faith to our neighbors," Ghuman said. "We have been here for a long time, and we are part of this country's fabric."
Sabrina Rangi, a medical student at Michigan State, is optimistic about the campaign's potential impact. She says, "I think after years of struggling to find the right words, this campaign is getting it right. This initiative embodies everything that Sikhism represents, especially its emphasis on shared values and equality. I see this practiced in the gurdwara, where all of the participants sit together on the floor, beneath our holy book, to symbolize that regardless of gender, race, or, social standing, we are all one."
A Sikh civil rights activist and lawyer, Valarie Kaur, warns that violence against Sikhs goes beyond mistaken identity. There have been attacks against Sikhs in the United States prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. During the height of the American nativist movement in 1907, Xenophobic mobs drove Sikh immigrants out of town. Whether 1907 or today, according to Kaur, "It appears to matter little to perpetrators of hate crimes whether the person they are attacking is Sikh and not Muslim. They see turbans, beards, and brown skin and it is enough for them to see us as foreign, suspect, and potential terrorists. It's time to retire the term 'mistaken identity.' It's a dangerous term because it implies that there is a correct target for hate."
In a recent segment of ‘The Daily Show’ with Trevor Noah, contributor Hasan Minhaj discussed with a group of Sikhs, ways in which they could separate themselves from hate crimes. When Minhaj questioned why more Sikhs don't simply proclaim, "Hey, I'm not Muslim," a member of the group, responded saying, "It's not just an option for us to throw another community under the bus."
Sikhs are commended for their commitment to tolerance and solidarity, according to Muslim American leaders. Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) executive director Arsalan Bukhari says, "It's very impressive that whenever a Sikh person or place of worship is attacked, the community is always quick to condemn Islamophobia and anti-Muslim attacks, and send a message of unity." Sikhs consider all Americans, including Muslim Americans, as neighbors, which has been helpful, according to him.
Changing mindsets and real transformation takes time. The multifaceted campaign told the stories of Sikhs to Americans on their smartphones, in their living rooms, and in their communities to educate fellow citizens and ignite conversations about the peaceful, forward-thinking, and tolerant community of over half a million Sikhs who live in the United States.
The Impact-Shifting perceptions
The ‘We Are Sikhs’ campaign was both historically significant and incredibly successful. The campaign was able to successfully establish Sikhism as an independent faith in the eyes of many. The National Sikh Campaign (NSC), in appreciation of the outstanding outcomes of the We Are Sikhs, won the 2018 PRWeek U.S. Award for 'Best Cause,' which has long been recognized as the greatest prize in the communications sector. A PR Week award is often referred to as an “Oscar” in the PR and marketing industry.