query for sikhs living in USA or CANADA

Dawnnymph · #10 (**permalink**) 22-Apr-2005, 23:01 PM

People here in America have no intelligence of the difference between muslims and sikhs, because they don't take the time to know. People here in America are so quick to judge and not to learn. People are so racist where im from sometimes when me and Raman are together we get so many dirty looks because im white and hes indian. Its sad it really is that America is so ignorant...
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truthseeker · #11 (**permalink**) 23-Apr-2005, 08:36 AM

Waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh!!

As i had posted a few months ago on a different thread... Im half black and with that comes alot of discrimination. Even tho i am half indian i do not really look like it. I honestly dont think that only certain ppl are racist..one weekend i was at a samagaam and me a few other friends were sitting in the langar hall just talking and one of the girls said to the group in general " my couins married sum 'kala' guy and i think it is SOOOOOO nasty" when she said that i was soo surprised, i was sitting right there next to her and she soo calls me her " best friend" I was just soo surprised that anyone could say sumthing like that. I mean thats fine ppl have their own opinions and i mean... when i go to gurdwara i dont look that different cuz i do wear a ramal under my chuni ( just sumthing ive always done) but when i go to skool ppl think that i am black cuz i have poofy hair and what not and they say things but what can i do about it
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-youth/2675-query-for-sikhs-living-usa-canada.html
And soo my point is that, no matter what people say, u just gotta brush off all those rude comments and move on. If u get along with someone, u get alone with one another because of whats on the inside not whats on the outside. And for all those people that do critise u and say thing about u... they arent worth ur time to feel bad about it because in the end u kno that Guru ji loves u and will always love u and really thats all that counts.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=2675

Waheguru ji ka khalsa Waheguru ji ki fateh!

Amerikaur · #12 (**permalink**) 24-Apr-2005, 01:28 AM

Nobody in the USA has a perfect life. No matter who you are, what you look like, what you do...there will always be someone that takes issue with SOMETHING.

Will a child get teased for what they wear on their head? Maybe. A child may be teased for the way s/he dresses. Or for being smart. Or for not being smart enough. Or for being short. Or for being tall. Or for being thin. Or for being fat. Or for being talented. Or for being talentless. Or for having nothing distinctive about them at all.

It has been almost 4 years since 9/11, and I think most Sikhs know that ignorance towards Sikhs existed before the Towers and the Pentagon was bombed.

But somehow...

There has been no mass-exodus of Sikhs from the U.S. Many of the Sikhs that have left the U.S. have done so because their visa has expired before they had a chance to earn permanent residnecy status - the deeply coveted "Green Card."

Not only has there been no mass-exodus of Sikhs, the population is growing. Most Sikhs that come to the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa (H1, R1, etc.) have full intention to find a LEGAL way to stay in the U.S., permanently. 10 years ago my city had 1 Gurdwara. Now it has 3. Smaller cities such as Richmond, VA or Hartford, CT sport Gurdwaras of their own.

Have there been hate crimes against Sikhs? Yes, by individual idiots.

However, in the 100 years that Sikhs have been in the U.S. there has been NOTHING even remotely like the threats that Sikhs have faced over the last 100 years in India.

Yes, many/most Americans do not know about Sikhs and Sikhism or even desis.

To be fair, it is also true that a similar proportion of emigrating Sikhs do not know much about American culture or Christianity or Judaism when they land on our shores.

Prabhdeep ji, I hope you don't mind if I point out a few things.

Your sentence:
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=2675
"brothers i wanted to know how do gore treat our sikh brothers "

America is far more than just "goray". Being white in America may get you a sunburn, but very little else. People of ALL races live and thrive in America. Poeple of both genders live and work and praise Waheguruji in America, not just brothers. To work in the workplace here, you MUST make decisions without mind to race and gender.

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=2675
Work hard, stay strong, and get a really good book on negotiation

Best of luck!

Archived_member8 · #13 (**permalink**) 05-Nov-2006, 14:06 PM

I was born in Toronto, Canada and raised in Toronto, I have alot of white (gore friends) that treat me like a brother, I've mostly ran into trouble with indians, somehow its the indians that hate the indians you know. Also I cant say anything about America just because I cant comment on something i dont know alot about, but theres a big desi community in Canada, some of our federal ministers are punjabi or were minsiters, MP's MPP's like Gurbax Malhi MP, Ujjal Dosangh former federal health minister, Takhar (forgot first name) who is ontario's transportation minister. So everyone is respecting punjabis here in canada, ive never really been bothered by any gore concerning my race or turban, rather ive had alot of gore friends that love punjabi music and they love our food like samosas and sweets. So yeah theres nothing bad here concerning punjabi's, people here know the difference between muslim and punjabi, and muslims arnt even discriminated against, even after september 11th, canada loves everyone. period.