MEDIA AND SIKHISM
What is it that we need to accomplish with the media?
There are short term and long-term goals. Right now short-term goals are more important. Our goal should be to educate 260 million Americans about Sikhs in the shortest time possible.
Many Americans are beginning to feel a deep sense of anger along with their profound feelings of sorrow. However, some are beginning to lash out against Arab Americans, Muslims, and others, such as Sikhs, whose image can appear similar to photographs of Osama bin Laden with a turban and beard. What you can do is contact the media and urge them to take the strongest possible position against this racial and ethnic stereotyping, which has already lead to violence. It is obvious that Arab Americans and Muslims as a group should not be blamed for the deranged and inhuman acts of a few fanatics. It is essential that the American public understand that not all who wear beards and turbans are terrorists, are of Middle Eastern origin or of the Muslim faith. This has the same faulty logic as thinking that all American Catholics and Protestants should be held accountable for terrorist activities in Northern Ireland, or that all white male Christians should be held responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing.
Request that the media do two things:
1. Urge Americans to not act on their feelings of anger and frustration by attacking innocent fellow Americans, and;
2. Create awareness in the US that Sikhism is a different religion than Islam, that Sikh men with beards and turbans have no connection whatsoever to Osama bin Laden or Middle Eastern terrorists and that Arab Americans and Muslims are as patriotic as their neighbors.
3. DO NOT make an issue of the fact that Sikhs are not Muslims!
It is essential that the media actively promulgate these messages. By showing images of Osama bin Laden without this additional perspective, some Americans can be influenced to condemn innocent people simply by virtue of their appearance or ethnicity.
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The Latest Press Releases
Sikhnet Press Release
Press Releases / Media Documents | Date | Source |
Press Release: A Sikh Message to Fellow Americans | Sept 20th | Sikh Communications |
Press Release: A Sikh Message to Fellow Americans (PDF) | Sept 20th | Sikh Communications |
Press Release: A Sikh Message to Fellow Americans (Word) | Sept 20th | Sikh Communications |
Press Release: Letter To The Principals of Schools | Sept 20th | Sikh Communications |
Press Release: Terrorism Continues- "Sikh American First Casuality" | Sept 17th | Sikh Communications |
Sikh Communication: Monitoring the Media (PDF) | Sept 17th | Sikh Media Watch |
Sikh Communication: Company Email on Sikh Victimization | Sept 17th | Sikh Communications |
Sikh Communication: Police Department Presentation (PPT) | Sept 16th | Sikh Media Watch |
Media Alert: Statement and Offer of Help | Sept 16th | Sikh Communications |
Media Alert: Hotline for Hate Crimes Against South Asians | Sept 16th | South Asian Bar Association |
United Sikhs Against Violence Condemnation - The Sikh Resolution of Condemnation of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on the United States of America