(no subject)
Do I even need to say how much this saddens, angers, and depresses me?
Twelve year old Sikh girl assaulted at school. Apparently there have been a rash of hate crimes specifically targeting the religious observances of Sikhs.
In two months we will remember the first hate crime murder following September 11, that of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a sardar who lived in Arizona.
As recently as last summer, 2 out of 5 Americans believed Saddam Hussein was connected to the 9/11 attacks (sorry -- Newsweek seems to have pulled the original article so I could only find references to it on blogs. It is the most recent poll data on how many Americans are stupid that I could find) and I am willing to bet none of them could tell you the difference between a Sikh and a Wahhabi if their lives depended on it, if they are even aware that there is more than one culture or religion whose members don turbans (I'm doubtful . . .)
The one thing that consoles me in all this mess is that it is possible to overcome people's, especially children's, ignorance.
I'm going to end this with a shameless plug:
A good friend of mine has been working on the Divided We Fall film for years. DWF is a documentary by a Sikh woman of the first hate crime murder following 9/11, and all the stories of Americans across the country following the attacks. On September 15, the DWF crew is hoping to premier the film in every state. I've seen it pre-screened and it is just a fantastic film, and incredibly important. If you're interested in arranging a showing in your community, please please email Jodi Elliot at jodi@dwf-film.com.
Twelve year old Sikh girl assaulted at school. Apparently there have been a rash of hate crimes specifically targeting the religious observances of Sikhs.
In two months we will remember the first hate crime murder following September 11, that of Balbir Singh Sodhi, a sardar who lived in Arizona.
As recently as last summer, 2 out of 5 Americans believed Saddam Hussein was connected to the 9/11 attacks (sorry -- Newsweek seems to have pulled the original article so I could only find references to it on blogs. It is the most recent poll data on how many Americans are stupid that I could find) and I am willing to bet none of them could tell you the difference between a Sikh and a Wahhabi if their lives depended on it, if they are even aware that there is more than one culture or religion whose members don turbans (I'm doubtful . . .)
The one thing that consoles me in all this mess is that it is possible to overcome people's, especially children's, ignorance.
I'm going to end this with a shameless plug:
A good friend of mine has been working on the Divided We Fall film for years. DWF is a documentary by a Sikh woman of the first hate crime murder following 9/11, and all the stories of Americans across the country following the attacks. On September 15, the DWF crew is hoping to premier the film in every state. I've seen it pre-screened and it is just a fantastic film, and incredibly important. If you're interested in arranging a showing in your community, please please email Jodi Elliot at jodi@dwf-film.com.