Sikhi in America

Written by  BHUPINDER SINGH – Email: singhbo@gmail.com
http://www.sikhreview.org/index.aspx

The first Sikh immigrants looking for greener pastures came to the west coast of United States in the second half of the 19th century. Most Sikh immigrants from the province of Punjab came to the U.S. to work on agricultural farms and lumber industries drawn by the similarities of climate with back home. The first Gurudwara in Stockton was inaugurated on October 24, 1912. The early immigrants were trying to survive on the low paying jobs, facing harsh discriminatory environment. While they were trying to meet the ends, they were also trying to preserve their faith and culture.During that time, a series of discriminatory laws were in the process of being enacted which targeted Asian immigrants, including Sikhs. Still quite a few of these early immigrants married Mexican women so that they could settle here instead of returning back.

Finally, the USA opened their doors to immigration in the 1960s, resulting in many students coming here for higher education. The numbers of Sikhs in US were extremely low, spread thin and many of these new immigrants discarded their visible articles of faith
to blend in the society and to avoid discrimination. Thus, the Sikhs were mostly living closer to the gurdwaras which became hub of their religious and social lives. This cocoon mentality was first set aside by 1967 by a young Sikh physicist, Narinder Singh Kapany, who with immense pride, commitment, and faith in their Sikh heritage, along with his wife, Satinder Kaur, founded the Sikh Foundation in California on December 29, 1967, with the mission to preserve and promote Sikh heritage. Because of this initiative we have Sikh Art Gallery at Asian Art Gallery in San Francisco. This inspired Khanuja family to set up a Sikh gallery at Phoenix Art Museum.

Harbhajan Singh Puri in 1968 immigrated to Toronto, and from there he moved to Los Angeles in 1969. In a brief time, he made a considerable impact in this Anglo-Saxon predominant metropolis, gaining a following amongst the hippies. In three months, he had established Yoga classes at several YMCAs, co-founded a yoga center, and was interviewed for national press and television, becoming known as Yogi Bhajan.

July 2024 of Ayatollah in turban and flowing beard on the national media created the impression that Sikhs were followers of Ayatollah, responsible for hike in petrol prices dubbed as “Oil Shock”. This was the first time a realization downed the Sikhs about the need to come out of their cocoon and make their presence felt, so that they are not wrongfully associated or targeted. The Sikhs started getting involved in the interfaith activities at the local level.

SALDEF a Sikh advocacy was founded in Washington DC, as the Sikh Media watch and Resource Task Force (SMART) in 1996, it began solely as an all-volunteer organization with a primary focus on media analysis and education. It has made efforts to protect the freedom of Sikhs to practice their faith without sacrificing their Sikh identity in work place. SALDEF has come out with Research Reports on various issues affecting Sikhs as Taking on Hate and White Supremacy, Turban Myths, and National Sikh American Survey. UNITED SIKHS, another NGO began in 1999, when a group of 3 Sikhs from the New York metropolitan area banded together to assist in the socio-economic development of immigrant communities in Queens, New York. Now this NGO has grown with Chapters in numerous countries including India and Pakistan. They also have a special helpline available 24*7 called UMEED that offers immediate support and strategies for addiction, mental health issues, domestic violence, and more.

Next after the September 11, 2001, attack on Twin Towers, Sikhs became target again of discrimination because of mistaken identity. Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner in Phoenix was killed on September 15, 2001, becoming first target of hate. Quite a few other Sikh Gurdwaras were attacked in hate crimes. The Sikh Coalition was founded by volunteers on the night of September 11, 2001, in response to a torrent of violent attacks against Sikh Americans throughout the United States.

In 2008, Lieutenant Colonel Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, joined active duty as an emergency medicine specialist, when he was asked to shave off his beard and unshorn hair to serve. Kalsi challenged it with the help of The Sikh Coalition, and it became a landmark case. He was finally given permission to wear articles of faith after a long courts’ battles which cost a lot of time and effort. But it paved way for future exemptions to Sikh to serve with a freedom to practice their faith. This event brought a lot of media attention to Sikhs in America and their unique challenges to serve with facial/head hair. In 2014, the Sikh Coalition released a national report on the bullying of Sikh children in American schools.
The report found that 55.8% of Sikh students surveyed in Indianapolis reported being bullied, while 54.5% of Sikh students surveyed in Fresno, California, reported being bullied.

This is almost twice the national bullying average, and a matter of grave concerns for physical and emotional health of Sikh kids in American Schools.

The Sikh Review

In 2008 Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal was so inspired to hear Adrian Garcia, elected Harris County sheriff speak at the Gurdwara in Hoston that he met him, closed his trucking business, growing his hair again and started his journey in law enforcement as civilian detention officer. He progressed on becoming a peace officer and eventually progressed to become the first Deputy in 2015 to sport a turban in USA. Thus, he came to be known as a trailblazer, but unfortunately lost his life in 2019 while taking care of a routine traffic stop. This tragic incident cut short a young blooming life, but the media coverage of the tragedy made many Americans aware of Sikhs.

In August 2012 Oak Creek Gurudwara, Wisconsin was a target of shooting leading to six deaths which shook the community. Besides there were other hate crimes in New York and California, with the attackers branding Sikhs as “Osama Bin Laden”.

In 2017, Ravinder Singh Bhalla had decided to run for a third term on the Hoboken City Council, when incumbent Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer decided not to run for reelection but endorsed Bhalla in a surprise press conference. He not only became Mayor but was reelected unopposed, finally completing three terms as Mayor. This high profile public position again have made a lot of Americans aware of Sikhs.

On the educational front the leads taken by Sikh Foundation, Sikh RI, and Sikhnet are highly commendable. Today Sikhnet is a largest Sikh presence on the world of digital media. Besides at the organized levels, there has been herculean individual efforts where the community members have embarked upon projects that will raise the profile, it benefit the community in the USA, but also larger Sikh community spread worldwide. Some of these combined grass root efforts by individual along with NGOs have resulted in inclusion of Sikhism in the Social Studies books. Establishment of a Sikh Chair in California and New York-Hofstra University, sponsored department of Musicology-GurbaniKirtan has given a boost to promotion of Punjabi language, productive literary pursuits, high quality literature/books, interfaith dialogues are another contribution by the diaspora in spreading message of Oneness for the humanity.

From all this we can see that the journey to the land of opportunities was not easy but was fraught with challenges. Some challenges remain and some new emerge, but the resilient Sikh community is learning and getting better at its advocacy efforts. The small Sikh community in size is faced with a unique set of challenges. It is this author’s hope
that these multiple Sikh NGOs can pool their talent and resources so that Sikh’s profile can be nurtured and Sikhee flourishes in US but also becomes a beacon for Sikhs in other countries. The Sikhs have produced some unique role models and hope to see get
it further nurtured in future.