‘Sikhs are your neighbors’: How to respond to hateful graffiti at Orangevale gurdwara

On the morning of Jan. 13, the Sikh gurdwara, or house of worship, in Orangevale discovered an unwelcome message. A concrete slab, which was meant to become the formal sign for the newly-opened gurdwara, was defaced with the words “White Power” and a swastika in spray paint.

This kind of hate has no place in our community – and because no faith group deserves to be targeted by bigotry, I and many other Sikhs living in the Sacramento area are inspired to speak up.

Some Americans are unfamiliar with their Sikh neighbors, despite the fact that we’ve been an integral part of the social fabric of the United States for more than 125 years. As members of the world’s fifth-largest religion, Sikhs have a visually distinct identity: Many, including myself, wear a turban and keep our facial hair unshorn. These articles of faith are deeply personal for us, and they remind us of our constant commitment to the values of our faith – chief among them love, service and justice.

Because they stand out in a crowd, though, our articles of faith can become a target for those who see Sikhs as “the other.” This focus then manifests as vandalism like what we saw in Orangevale – and far worse instances of harassment and violence.

Back in August of 2012, a neo-Nazi gunman murdered six Sikh worshippers in an assault on a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. That tragic event was the deadliest attack on Sikh Americans in our nation’s history. Unfortunately, the problem hasn’t gone away: Anti-Sikh bias incidents have increased each year since the FBI started tracking them in 2015, and the most recent data showed a 200 percent increase in the reporting of these incidents from 2017 to 2018.

This problem of discrimination and violence persists in the Sacramento and Central Valleys, too. In the past few years alone, we’ve seen a number of violent attacks on Sikhs – particularly older Sikh gentlemen, as in the cases of Parmjit Singh in 2018 in Tracy; Sahib Singh in 2018 in Manteca; Maan Singh Khalsa in 2016 in Richmond; and the unsolved murders of two Sikh grandfathers, Surinder Singh and Gurmej Atwal, in Elk Grove in 2011. This week’s graffiti is a reminder that instances of discrimination don’t just affect individual victims, but entire communities.

So what is the answer? As law enforcement continues to investigate what was clearly a hate crime, we have to decide what to do for ourselves. To me, the first step is choosing not to be defined by fear or trauma – and instead strengthen our relationships in our communities and rise above the hate. We can start by helping others learn more about us.

After all, Sikhs are your neighbors, colleagues and classmates. We are visible in professions from farming to acting and serve in all walks of life. We have a large population right here in Sacramento – and every November, Sikhs from all over come to nearby Yuba City to celebrate in one of the largest nagar kirtan festivals in the world.

I tell you this because our response to hate and discrimination can’t be to cower. It has to be the opposite: to make ourselves more accessible, and to build bridges founded on common values.

Coming together as a community, Sikh and non-Sikh alike, is how we erase the petty racism of someone who scrawls in paint on concrete slabs. So consider visiting a gurdwara in your area for services on Sunday – I’m sure we’d be glad to have you.

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.