Items of Interest September 10, 2012 Issue

For Sikhs, turban is a proud symbol–and a target

Daniel Burke

Law enforcement authorities don’t know why suspected gunman Wade Michael Page burst into a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on August 5 and opened fire.

But many American Sikhs say they do know this: Their community has been targeted by a growing number of hate crimes since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The New York-based Sikh Coalition reports more than 700 such incidents since 2001. The question is: Why?

“The turban is the main issue here,” said Pashaura Singh, a professor of Sikh and Punjabi studies at the University of California-Riverside. “People confuse Sikhs with Osama bin Laden.”

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