Singh fights media's inadequate portrayal of religious distinctions

While a University student was shopping at the mall last week, his traditional turban and beard made him a target for racial prejudice. In two incidents that day, Savraj Dhanjal '03 was called "bin Laden."

Dhanjal is not Muslim, but rather Sikh. "I personally see that as a racist comment. It would be the same as — if I were black — calling me a nigger," Dhanjal said.

Dhanjal's encounters with prejudice led him to work with several student groups and University programs to organize a talk addressing racial stereotyping in the media.

Jaideep Singh, a Ph.D. student at Oberlin College, spoke last night in Frist 302 about "racialized" representations of Sikh, Muslim and Arab Americans in the press — focusing on the Sikh.

The media "adores focusing on sensationalist events," especially those involving non-whites, Singh said.

He also said that the media often labels non-white suspects with their religion — such as an Islamic fundamentalist — but the religion of white suspects are often not reported — as in the case of the Oklahoma City bombers.

Dhanjal noted an incident in which the day after Sept. 11 a Sikh American was pulled off of a train by officials who thought he might have been related to the terrorist attacks.

In his talk, Singh condemned the incident as "clearly illegal racial profiling."

"They plastered his face everywhere," Dhanjal said, "and flashed his face with bin Laden's face on television." Though the man was quickly released, Dhanjal said the media's association of Sikhism and terrorism was a cause of the murder of a Sikh in Arizona several days later.

Singh criticized the media for not showing pictures of the murder victim. The media had an opportunity to humanize him, and a duty to do so, Singh said, but did not.

The "salience and power" of the first turban-wearing, long-bearded images of terrorists following Sept. 11, like those of Osama bin Laden, were enough, Singh said, to confuse most Americans. Coupled with President Bush's rhetoric, the confusion turned into violence.

"Angry patriots became bounty hunters," he said.

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But despite the confusion, Singh said he does not attribute all anti-Sikh violence to patriotism. Instead, the terrorist attacks simply became a "convenient scapegoat for [violence toward] dehumanized non-white others."

Sikh cabdrivers in New York City were quick to put up flags "to deflect the violence and hatred they suddenly encountered," Singh said.

Singh also criticized the media's use of the term "backlash," which he said implies that the targets of the backlash themselves did something to bring it about. "What have Sikhs done?" he asked.

"We as Americans need to be extremely careful, and we have to open our minds," said Paula Chow, director of the International Center, which also sponsored the talk.

Only through continually addressing the issues of multicultural interaction will anyone see improvement, Chow said.

"The United States remains a race-obsessed society," Singh concluded, reiterating that the media must play a more responsible role in both reporting news and as using their power to make the nation more tolerant.