Current Events
Remembering Oak Creek
JASJIT SINGH
Three years ago, a white supremacist shot and killed six worshipers (Paramjit Kaur Saini, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, Prakash Singh, Suvegh Singh Khattra, and Satwant Singh Kaleka) and injured four others at the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, USAI.
At the time, it was the worst attack on a U.S. place of worship since the 1963 16th street church bombing, only to be unfortunately surpassed by yet another tragedy, the recent Charleston, South Carolina shooting.
Sikhs, along with other minority groups, have been targets of increased hate since that fateful morning of 9/11. Almost 14 years later, we continue to face discrimination, hate, and the ever-so-obvious "uneasy" glances from some of our fellow Americans.
I have now lived half of my life in the post-9/11 era. Words cannot explain how I went from never thinking twice about the way I look, to thinking three times before stepping foot outside. I went from never listening to comments, jeers, and snickering, to noticing them at every moment of the day. The glances or stares are so piercing that I have almost developed a sixth sense for them.
What left me in disbelief is that there was not even the slightest link between those senseless terrorists and me. Why do people associate my image with those terrorists? The media spent months flashing pictures of turbaned men, almost perpetuating the image of a terrorist being one who ties a turban.
Oak Creek was tragic and obvious proof of the media's deadly role through its rating wars. Regardless of the outreach conducted post 9/11, there is limited knowledge of the Sikh faith. Even on that tragic morning of August 5, 2012, the news channels were not even aware of what a "Sikh" was. The media was calling in individuals from the Hindu and Muslim religions, asking their opinions. At one point, the Gurdwara was referred to as a Hindu temple.
11 years after 9/11, it was obvious that there was work to be done.
The possible silver lining? The Sikh community thought that Oak Creek would bring about national attention to the Sikh faith and the tragedy would raise awareness of the Sikh faith and help educate the masses. The thought was that those six "shaheeds" would save the lives of countless others who may possibly have been attacked or killed in the future due to hate.
Unfortunately, I don't think enough has happened. If you do a simple "Google" search of Oak Creek, you will see countless op-eds just like mine, Sikhs talking about Oak Creek. You won't see major news outlets covering the tragedy, you won't see news outlets stating it was “an attack on an American house of worship,” you will simply see "Sikhs commemorate Oak Creek".
I am not saying that we as Sikhs must not commemorate or educate, that is a must. I am saying that Oak Creek was not just a Sikh tragedy, it was an American tragedy.
An attack on a house of worship or any attack that takes innocent lives should transcend faiths and even borders. However, the tragedy has been largely forgotten or many individuals don't even know it occurred.
Over the weekend, The Sikh Coalition successfully held a "Day of Seva" across 16 cities. I participated and led the Fremont, California, event. Over 95% of the attendees were non-Sikh. None of the attendees were aware of the Oak Creek shooting. At this moment, I was unsure of what was more disappointing, the lack of Sikh presence at the event or the fact that none of the attendees knew about the tragedy.
Aurora, Sandy Hook, and Charleston are household names, but Oak Creek draws a blank. Even today, those other tragedies are slowly fading from our memories. Until Oak Creek becomes an American tragedy, it will continue to be forgotten. Unless all these tragedies are constantly covered, remembered, and observed, they will all be forgotten.
I ask you to remember Oak Creek and learn from Oak Creek.
Oak Creek can happen anywhere and at anytime. Take the time to educate your neighbors, your friends, and your own family. Learn about other faiths, traditions, and cultures. Let's do our part to ensure there are no more Oak Creeks and no more Charleston, South Carolinas.
"Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana
[The author is a Law-grad, activist, humanitarian and entrepreneur.]
August 6, 2015
Conversation about this article
1: Arjan Singh (USA), August 06, 2015, 11:02 PM.
Thoughtful article, capturing the lessons learned from this human tragedy. The onus is upon the Sikh community to educate their neighbors, friends and the general public. Most Americans do not even know or cannot imagine that Sikhs served in the WWI & II war theaters. Sikhs must not let Americans and the rest of the world lump them with the Indian or the Hindu or the South Asian community. Their culture and identity is distinct and Americans are good at heart but ignorant due to their geographical history.