Abstract
Strong anti-Islamic sentiments increased dramatically after the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, leading to an uptick in prejudice and the perpetration of hate crimes targeting Muslims. Sikh men and boys, often mistaken for Muslims, suffered as collateral damage. The overall health of both communities has been adversely affected by these experiences. Faced with such realities, communities and parents often adopt adaptive behaviors to foster healthy development in their children. In this paper, drawing on interviews with 23 Sikh parents from 12 families, we examine Sikh parents’ ethno-religious socialization of their children. The confluence of media stereotyping and mistaken identities has shaped Sikh parents’ beliefs regarding their children’s retention/relinquishment of outward identity markers. Sikh parents, in general, are concerned about the safety of their boys, due to the distinctive appearance of their religious markers, such as the turban. They are engaged in a constant struggle to ensure that their children are not identified as Muslims and to protect them from potential harm. In most of the families in our study, boys were raised to give up wearing the indicators of their ethno-religious group. In addition, many parents took responsibility for educating the wider community about their ethno-religious practices through direct communication, participation in cultural events, and support of other ethno-religious minorities. Policy implications are discussed.
Highlights
On a Sunday morning in August 2012, an American named Michael Page attacked a Gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Our analyses suggest that our participants were keenly aware of media misrepresentation and confusion of Sikhs and Muslims as well as elevated levels of hate crimes and discrimination after
The experiences of Sikh communities and families have changed drastically since 9/11. They have been subjected to elevated levels of hate crimes rooted in media misrepresentation of them as Muslims
Summary
On a Sunday morning in August 2012, an American named Michael Page attacked a Gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He killed five men and one woman; all five male victims were wearing their turbans, an integral part of their religious faith (Gast 2012). In another incident a turban-wearing New Yorker, Sandeep Singh, was run over by a pickup truck. In a more recent incident, a gunman shot a Sikh man in Kent, Washington (Le 2017). Similar hate crimes against Sikhs have proliferated since 9/11
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