Sikh Americans Concerned about Backlash of War in Iraq

March 30, 2003

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0303/30/d01-122448.htm

On March 30, 2003 The Detroit News reported that "as war with Iraq drew closer to reality, Wayne State University student Sojeet Kaur became concerned: Sept. 11 had taught her a lesson that even life as a foreign-born American hadn't quite prepared her for. Her people, mostly natives of northern India, were being blamed for the terrorist attacks, sometimes with fatal results. Kaur is a Sikh, and though her shiny, silken garb looks typically Indian, she fears for the men she knows, with their distinctive style of dress... She isn't alone. Sikh men in particular were singled out after the terrorist attacks for their turbans and long beards, both of which are required by their religious beliefs... Since the Iraqi war began, there have been several incidents of attacks and harassment across the nation. The reports gathered to date by the Council on American-Islam Relations in Washington, D.C., have centered on Muslims, including an incident in Fraser where a man and his son say they were refused service at a Meijer store."