Sick and Sikh are both American
I didn’t even know until yesterday that white supremacist heavy metal rock bands existed. I was only slightly more aware of Sikhs, since their turbans and beards are hard to miss. But of this I am sure: what I am hearing from the Sikhs is far more to my liking than anything I will hear from white supremacists, heavy metal or not.
The Sikh community has got to be very angry. They are not only subjected to discrimination, racist violence and worse but have to suffer the colossal ignorance that identifies them as Muslim, which is a bit like treating Jews as if they were Buddhists or vice versa. People are entitled to their own identity, something white supremacists might even be expected to appreciate, since they so aggressively assert their own.
So what how are the Sikhs reacting? With great equanimity. Amardeep Singh of The Sikh Coalition offers:
…we have three core tenants for our daily lives. We believe in working hard and honestly. And in doing, we are respecting our creator. We believe in sharing our bounty with others. And then our third daily obligation is to remember God in everything we do.
The Sikhs are treating this as an opportunity to teach us something about their religion. I am grateful for the lesson.
Now I suppose that even in Sikh community there will be from time to time fallen angels who commit mayhem and even murder. But mayhem and even murder is the purpose of the white supremacists. Here’s a sample lyric:
Burn the tares in flames
Hang the traitors of our race
Judgment Day is here
The hand of God is in this place
Drive you out or cut you off
Your blood will surely flow
Avengers of the innocent
The Earth will soon now know
White Supremacy!
White Supremacy!
White Supremacy!
White Supremacy!
I can only imagine who is attracted to this tripe rather than the Sikh core tenants of their daily lives.
But they are among us: this great nation produces them, at the same time as it attracts the Sikhs. The one may be sick and the other Sikh, but they are both American. Time for a good hard look in the mirror.
PS: Need more on white power lyrics? Try this.
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Remember this? http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf
“Threats from white supremacist and violent antigovernment groups
during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts. Nevertheless, the consequences of a prolonged economic downturn—including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit—could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past.”
Any reaction will probably be described as part of a plot to seize the weapons needed to protect us all against a potentially tyrannical government. Based on what we’ve been seeing in Libya and Syria, they’d better start stockpiling tanks and helicopter gunships – anything you can carry single-handed doesn’t seem of much use. Except against people out for a night at the movies or morning prayer services, of course.