8.07.2012
read these blogs: sikh solidarity edition
Son of Sikh Temple president remembers 'hero' father killed in massacre: The son of Satwant Singh Kaleka, who was killed while attacking the Sikh temple shooter, remembers him as a hero, a man who helped build the presence of his faith and a pillar of his community.
Profiles of the Sikh Temple shooting victims: Brief descriptions of the six people killed during Sunday's mass shooting at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek.
Angry white men: "Murderous insanity can infect any community, and maybe that leads people to call these senseless acts of random violence. But of course they are neither senseless nor random, and the vast majority of such incidents here involve white men. Racism holds a terrible logic, for a concept with no grounding whatsoever in science or morality, yet too many white people don't see any patterns."
The Sense of White Supremacy: Authorities are investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism, but Vijay Prashad reminds us that this is most certainly not the first act of violence against Sikhs in the United States.
Today, we are all American Sikhs: "For me, the mass shooting is not just about how to keep guns out of the hands of a murderous few. It's also about my community's sacrifice in the struggle to live as free and proud Americans."
Heems of Das Racist on the Misdirected Hatred Towards Sikhs In America. Himanshu Suri, a/k/a Heems of Das Racist, took to Twitter to share his thoughts on how the Sikh temple shooting is yet another grim reminder of the hate directed towards Middle Eastern and South Asian people in America post-9/11.
Sehgal: Sikh temple shooting shows how hatred can transcend boundaries: Ujala Sehgal, communications coordinator at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, calls on all Americans to take a stand against terrorism, ignorance and hatred in every form.
Identifying Sikhs: "The explanations for such a targeted and ferocious attack (which have been linked to white supremacist ideology) aren't rational, can't easily be boiled down to simple ignorance. But many are delicately rethinking how cultural perception shapes attitudes toward the Other."
My Take: Sikh temple shooting is act of terrorism: CNN piece by Arsalan Iftikhar, international human rights lawyer, founder of TheMuslimGuy.com and author of the book Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era.
Michele Bachmann Thankful No Americans Died In Sikh Shooting: And finally, The Onion nails it again with its usual brilliant so-awful-it-could-actually-be-true brand of satire.