“My Headcovering is Downright Sikh” – Sikhtoons debut book released
As mentioned last month, New York City-based Vishavjit Singh released his first “Sikhtoons” book this Spring.   Entitled My Headcovering is Downright Sikh: An Illustrated Intro to Turbans, the book “uses a collection of cartoons from Sikhtoons.com to create a visual narrative to...
Turban Warfare or Racist Warfare (courtesy of the NY Post)?
This past Sunday, violence erupted in an ongoing conflict between rival factions at the Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana in Richmond Hill, Queens, the heart of New York’s Sikh community. Large kirpans as well as cricket bats and balls were used in the fighting. Dozens of community members and “leaders”...
A Scary Halloween
I always get nervous in October because, although I love Halloween and all the imagination and candy involved in its celebration, it scares me a little bit. But not because of all too realistic vampire costumes or haunted houses. This is what really scares me: Every year, at least one person comments...
What Can Brown Do for You? Discriminate against Sikhs
On December 19, 2008, a UPS employee delivered a package to the home of Anant Singh.  Singh’s father, a turbaned Sikh, signed for the package.  Rather than entering the elder Singh’s name onto the electronic tracking slip, the UPS employee noted that a “terrorist” had signed...
Dari envy?
When I was a little girl, I remember the hostile glares my father used to get as we drove together across town. Pretty much anytime the U.S. had gotten entangled in anything remotely related to Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan between the 1970s and 80s, you could bet your bottom dollar papa would get stopped...
Achieving the “American Dream”: Blinded By Our Own Prejudices
So the other day on an NPR report (I don’t have a link, you will just have to take my word for it), a Latino immigrant man shared his own prejudices that have developed as he has achieved his “American Dream”.  He spoke about how easily he began to forget the difficulties he encountered while...
A New Sheriff In Houston – Better for Sikhs?
A couple of weeks ago TLH reported on an incident involving the Tagore family in Houston who suffered what can quite easily be classified as police brutality after having called for help.  The family called nine-one-one after finding out that their home had been burglarized, but when the Sheriffs arrived,...
Here we go again….
Once again, Indian-Americans have been unwillingly thrust into the heart of a contentious American political battle.  For those of you who don’t remember, in 2006, incumbent Senator George Allen singled out and subsequently called an Indian-American, S.R. Sidarth, “macaca” while on...