Remembering 9/11, demystifying the Sikh community

Japjee Singh, 17, of Dunwoody was a featured speaker at the Sikh Coalition’s Capitol Hill briefing in 2014, when the advocacy group launched the national report, titled “Go Home Terrorist,” which examined bullying against Sikh American school children. Contributed by Sikh Coalition

Credit: Contributed by Sikh Coalition

Credit: Contributed by Sikh Coalition

Japjee Singh, 17, of Dunwoody was a featured speaker at the Sikh Coalition’s Capitol Hill briefing in 2014, when the advocacy group launched the national report, titled “Go Home Terrorist,” which examined bullying against Sikh American school children. Contributed by Sikh Coalition


The Sikh Project

10 a.m.- 8 p.m., extended weekend hours. Sept. 17-25. Free. 530 Broadway, New York, New York 10012. www.sikhcoalition.org

When a group of Islamist fundamentalists seized four airlines and killed nearly 3,000 people in the disaster we all remember now simply as 9/11, Japjee Singh was barely 2 years old.

“That demands recognition,” said Sapreet Kaur, executive director of the Sikh Coalition, human rights advocacy group. “Bullying is an epidemic that impacts children and families all across the nation. His story represents all of those voices at the exhibition.”

But let me hasten to say this exhibition isn’t just about bullying. Nor is it just about the heroism of Sikh Americans. It is also about commemorating 9/11 and raising awareness about the Sikh community that fell victim to racial profiling.

“During this period of heightened divisive rhetoric and hate backlash directed at so many minority communities, we felt that the moment was right to highlight the beauty of the Sikh faith, the strength of our collective spirit and to do so in a way that further educates the broader American public,” Kaur said. “Our aspiration is to spark conversations across the country on what it means to look like an American and to humanize communities who are too often regarded as ‘other.’ There is no better means of opening hearts and minds than through the arts.”

Sikhism, a monotheistic faith that emerged from the Punjab region of India about 500 years ago, emphasizes self-reliance and individual responsibility and is known for championing social justice.

But here’s why what Japjee did is so important.

A recent study from the University of Virginia suggests that when a school has a climate of bullying, it's not just the targeted kids who suffer — the entire school lags academically. A British scholar found that children who simply witness bullying are more likely to skip school or abuse alcohol. American studies have found that children who are bullied are much more likely to contemplate suicide and to skip school.

The scars don’t go away.

Japjee Singh is proof of that. All these years later, the Dunwoody High School senior has vivid memories of being bullied, of feeling hopeless and alone.

“Second grade is supposed to be fun,” he said recently. “I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office.”

Students constantly taunted him about his headdress, questioned his gender and wondered out loud if he had a bomb under his turban.

“It was anything but hair,” Japjee said.

It didn’t matter that he took care to show them, that he and his sisters did demonstrations for the entire student body to try to head off their queries and constant taunts.

“All of that made zero impact,” Japjee said. “It got worse.”

The questions and insults kept coming. Students called him Osama. Terrorist. They demanded he go back to his country. One kid grabbed him by the throat and pulled his turban off.

“It brought them joy to see me scrambling to keep my turban on,” Japjee said.

By middle school, Japjee said the verbal abuse and harassment escalated to blows to his face and head. One altercation left him with a fractured cheek bone, broken nose, dislocated jaw and multiple abrasions. Even then his and his parents’ complaints fell on deaf hears.

Japjee tried to explain it away, saying it wasn’t their fault.

“But part of me had to ask what were their parents teaching them,” he said. “From very early I was able to discern the lack of compassion and acceptance of others. Kids would go out of their way to cause me harm. It was very disheartening.”

Japjee missed almost 40 days of school. Some for surgeries to fix his injuries. Some because he no longer felt safe.

By eighth grade, the family couldn’t take it anymore.

Japjee’s parents contacted the Sikh Coalition, which filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Our immediate concern was to make sure he was protected,” said Japjee’s sister Aasess Kaur.

But this wasn’t just about Japjee, Kaur said. It was about all the other kids who didn’t have the same level of support he had, who were too scared to complain.

“We knew policies had to be changed to protect all kids who are different,” she said. “This was a milestone.”

Japjee’s experience, he said, led him to create a student group responsible for combating bullying in school. That includes peer-to-peer mentoring, training and discussion to create an open line of communication and safe space for students to talk.

“I made it my high school career,” he said.

In March, Japjee learned his efforts would be recognized by the Sikh Coalition.

Being included, he said, is an opportunity to show how far he has come, to show other students facing bullies that they don’t have to remain victims, that they can rise above the fray.

Japjee said his turbans and beard are part of his identity, a crown that publicly displays that he’s a strong believer in tolerance, justice and equality and is willing without hesitation to be a voice for those suffering oppression.

“These are constant reminders for us to practice those values and live by those values we publicly display,” he said.

I get goosebumps just thinking about what a difference it could make if all us would practice those same values.