To Ramandeep Kaur Dhillon, it’s particularly significant that the Natomas Unified Board of Trustees has declared November as Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month in keeping with an annual resolution passed by the California Legislature.
Dhillon, mother of three Heron School students, is a proud Sikh practitioner who believes that public awareness of her peace-loving religion will make it less likely that Sikhs will be targeted nationwide for hate crimes by people who mistake them for Middle Eastern terrorists because of physical appearance.
“Our three core values are devotion to God, truthful living and serving humanity,” Dhillon said of Sikhism, whose followers are estimated to exceed 25 million, making it the world’s fifth largest religion. “We’re willing to help, anywhere we can.”
Dhillon pointed to a group of local college students, for example, who feed the homeless every Wednesday beside a Natomas park. Sikh houses of worship, called Gurdwaras, also stand ready to feed any visitor who needs a hot meal, at any time, she said. “They don’t ask for anything in return.”
A resolution passed by the California Legislature noted that Sikhs nationwide have been victimized periodically by hate crimes since the World Trade Center attacks of 2001. They “are often mistaken for terrorists” because male followers typically grow long beards and wear a turban, the resolution noted, describing a Sikh tradition.
“(They are) subjected to a disproportionately high rate of hate crimes, and Sikh boys suffer bullying at twice the national bullying rate for other boys,” said the California Legislature’s resolution, ACR 37, passed without a single no vote this year.
Two Sikh men in their 60s and 70s were shot to death in Elk Grove four years ago while taking a walk. That fatal attack came just months after a Sikh cab driver was attacked in West Sacramento by two men who yelled anti-Muslim slurs.
Dhillon said she has told her young daughter not to lose faith, that Sikhs will be known for the good they do and to retain her trust in humanity.
“Just because we wear turbans doesn’t make us terrorists,” she said. “We’re just human. We’re just like every religion. Get to know us.”
The Sikh Coalition, which touts itself as the largest Sikh American advocacy and community development organization in the United States, describes Sikhism as a monotheistic religion based on a revelation to Guru Nanak more than 500 years ago in Punjab, India.
“Sikhism preaches a message of devotion, remembrance of God at all times, truthful living, equality between all human beings (and) social justice, while emphatically denouncing superstitions and blind rituals,” the Sikh Coalition said.
In California, Sikhs initially made a name for themselves in lumber mills, railroad construction and later in farming. Over the decades, they’ve branched out and made significant contributions in all facets of American life – including elective office: Sikh mayors have been elected in Yuba City, Lathrop and San Joaquin, for example. An NUSD school principal, Amreek Singh, is Sikh.
Natomas is located between the site of the first Sikh temple in the United States, in Stockton, and the city believed to have the largest population of Sikhs in the nation, Yuba City. The latter hosts an annual Sikh parade each November that attracts tens of thousands of people to commemorate holy Sikh scriptures. This year’s parade was held Nov. 1.
California has been recognizing Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month since 2010.
