Tuesday morning of September 11, 2001, United States awakened to the tragic events occurring in New York City. The nation came to a stop as hijacked planes collided into the country’s beloved Twin Towers, crumbling down within the matter of seconds. 15 years ago, the United States faced a major terrorist attack, with over 3,000 deaths and evidently bringing out the rage within the citizens. However, targets of revenge for this situation are faced by Sikh Americans, who still experience discrimination with their physical appearance in the nation today. Within the United States, the media limits the coverage Sikh Americans experience on a daily basis, and essentially undermining the discrimination that many of them still face today.
Sikh Americans have been the victims of discrimination on the basis of their physical appearance. According the religion of Sikhism, men (and sometimes women) wear turbans around their head in order to protect their uncut hair. Because of this image, they are often mistaken as Muslims, and hence are sufferers of many hate crimes. According to the Sikh Coalition, within the first month of the 9/11 attacks, over three hundred cases had been reported regarding violence and discrimination these followers faced in school, workplace, and even the general public. The first incident occurred just four days after the attacks. The name of the victim was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh-American who was an owner of a gas station. His perpetrator was 42 year-old Frank
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Despite Sikhism being the fifth largest religion in the world, many Americans still remain uneducated from this faith. The lack of representation from social media hinders this knowledge from entering people’s mind. With more media coverage and the correct education, there can be a stop to all these hate