US Sikh Community Traumatized by Yet Another Mass Shooting
Ajeet Singh
told the AP that he had to steel himself for a return to work at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis this past week after a former employee there shot dead eight people, including four members of Indianapolis’ tightly knit Sikh community.
“I’ve been scared to go back,” Singh said. “I don’t know why this happened still. Was it random, or was it because of who I am?”
We mourn the victims — Matthew R. Alexander, Samaria Blackwell, Amarjeet Johal, Jasvinder Kaur, Jaswinder Singh, Amarjit Sekhon, Karli Smith and John Weisert — as we await the conclusion of the ongoing investigation of the tragedy. Whatever the result, the truth is that the Sikh community is already traumatized from past attacks, including the 2012 hate crime killings of six Sikh worshippers at an Oak Creek, Wisc. temple.
“My own son heard the words ‘Go back to your country’ when he was only 4 years old,”
recalled Valarie Kaur, a civil rights activist, attorney, and founder of the
Revolutionary Love Project, at a virtual vigil for the victims. “And memories from Oak Creek are coming back to me, memories from post 9/11 are coming back to me, and all of us are in this kind of deep trauma as a community.”
"As we go forward, and the COVID-19 pandemic eases restrictions on gathering in public and private spaces, we need to take the threat of mass shootings seriously and be intentional in building an infrastructure on both prevention and supporting the communal and individual trauma of survivors,"
writes Pardeep Kaleka in the
Milwaukee Independent. "Let’s have meaningful discussions on the role of guns and enact policies around gun reform since 100% of mass shootings in our country involve the use of firearms."
“We are time and time again disproportionately facing senseless and often very targeted attacks,”
says Satjeet Kaur, executive director of the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based group that has urged investigators to examine bias as a possible motive in the shootings.
“The impact on the community is traumatic,” she continued, “not just particularly the families that face the senseless violence, but also in the community at large because it’s community trauma.”
Reach out to the Sikh community in your town and let them know they have your support.
Consider holding a virtual screening of the NIOT film, Waking in Oak Creek, to learn about what happened in Wisconsin and how its community came together after tragedy.
Consider holding an outdoor vigil in your town to honor and remember the victims of hate violence in the past weeks and months, and to show support for members of your community who may be feeling targeted. We must stand together against hate.