Sikhism in the United States

American Sikhs

Members of the Sikh community of Somerville, Massachusetts
Total population
500,000- 1,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Northeastern United States · California  · Texas · Virginia · Maryland · Midwestern United States
Religions
Sikhism
Languages
English · Punjabi and its dialects · other Indic languages

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Sikhism
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Sikh gurus Guru Nanak Guru Angad Guru Amar Das Guru Ram Das Guru Arjan Guru Hargobind Guru Har Rai Guru Har Krishan Guru Tegh Bahadur Guru Gobind Singh Guru Granth Sahib
Select revered saints Bhagat Kabir Bhagat Ravidas Bhagat Farid Bhagat Ramanand Bhagat Beni Bhagat Namdev Bhagat Sadhana Bhagat Bhikhan Bhagat Parmanand Bhagat Sain Bhagat Dhanna Bhagat Pipa Bhagat Surdas Bhagat Jaidev Bhagat Trilochan Bhatt Kalshar Bhatt Balh Bhatt Bhalh Bhatt Bhika Bhatt Gayand Bhatt Harbans Bhatt Jalap Bhatt Kirat Bhatt Mathura Bhatt Nalh Bhatt Salh Baba Sundar Balvand Rai
Philosophy Naam Japo Kirat Karō Vand Chakkō Charhdi Kalā Guru Maneyo Granth Five Thieves Five Virtues
Practices Sikh Rehat Maryada Prohibitions Ardās Kirtan Amrit Velā Dasvand The Five Ks Langar Sewa Simran Nitnem Dastar (Turban) Naam Karan Amrit Sanskar Anand Karaj Antam Sanskar
Scripture Guru Granth Sahib Dasam Granth Sarbloh Granth Five Banis
Places and Takhts Gurdwara Harmandir Sahib Akal Takht Keshgarh Sahib Damdama Sahib Patna Sahib Hazur Sahib
General topics and terminology Ik Onkar Khalsa Waheguru Panj Pyare Khanda Literature Music Names Nanakshahi calendar Criticism Jathedar of Akal Takht War
Glossary Sikh Topics
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Sikhism is a religion originating from medieval India (predominantly from the Punjab region of modern-day India and Pakistan) which was introduced into the United States during the 19th century. In 2007, there were estimated to be between 250,000 and 500,000 Sikhs living in the United States, with the largest populations living on the East and West Coasts, together with additional populations in Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and Indianapolis.^[1][2] The United States also has a number of non-Punjabi converts to Sikhism.^[3]

Sikh men are typically identifiable by their unshorn beards and turbans (head coverings), articles of their faith. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and subsequent other terrorism related activities by Islamic groups, Sikhs have often been mistaken as Muslims or Arabs, and have been subject to several hate crimes, including murders.^[4][5] Sikh temples have also been targets of violence due to being mistaken for mosques. A 2012 shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin garnered national and international attention, with then President Obama ordering flags to be half-staffed at all federal buildings.

Demographics[]

Occupations[]

Military service[]

A gathering of British veterans who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War; a Sikh is present among them (c. 1917)

A Sikh-American U.S. Army officer(2010)

Sikhs have served in the United States military at least as far back as the early 20th century, when one Bhagat Singh Thind, who though not a citizen joined the United States Army and served in World War I. Thind requested citizenship at the end of the war, being granted and revoked twice, before finally being naturalized in 1936.^[6] Far larger numbers of Sikhs served in World War II, and all American wars following.

The ability of observant Sikhs to serve in the American military has, since 1985, been compromised by a discontinuation of exemptions to uniform standards which previously allowed Sikhs to maintain their religiously-mandated beards and turbans while in uniform.^[7] As of 2010, a Sikh doctor, Kamaljeet S. Kalsi, and dentist, Tejdeep Singh Rattan, are the only Sikh officers to be permitted to serve in uniform with beard and turban.^[8] In addition, Simranpreet Lamba was permitted to enlist, with exemption to wear his turban and beard, in 2010 due to his knowledge of Punjabi and Hindi.^[9]

Policing[]

In 2016, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) began to allow turbans, subject to standards compatible with unimpeded performance of duty.^[10] In 2015, Sandeep Dhaliwal became the first Deputy Sheriff in Texas to wear a turban on duty (Harris County Sherriff's Office). He was shot and killed from behind in 2019 while conducting a routine traffic stop on the Copperbrook subdivision in Houston Texas.^[11]

Professionals[]

Many Sikhs started life in America working in lumber mills, mines, and as farm laborers, with many eventually becoming landowners. Many early Sikh immigrants were restaurant owners. In 1956, Dalip Singh Saund became the first Asian Indian-born person to be elected to the United States House of Representatives.

Elected officials[]

• Dalip Singh Saund served three terms in the United States House of Representatives between 1957 and 1963.
• Preet Didbal was elected to the position of mayor of Yuba City, California in 2017. She is the first Sikh woman to serve as a city mayor in United States history.^[12]
• Balvir Singh was elected to the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders, New Jersey on November 7, 2017. He became the first Asian-American to win a countywide election in Burlington County and the first Sikh-American to win a countywide election in New Jersey.^[13]
• City planner Satyendra Huja was elected mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia in January 2012.^[14]
• Amarjit Singh Buttar was elected in December 2001 to the Vernon, Connecticut Board of Education and won re-election in 2011.^[15]
• United States Ambassador to the United Nations and former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley was born a Sikh but later converted to Christianity.^[16]
• Ravinder Bhalla was elected mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey in November 2017.
• Satwinder Kaur became the first Sikh elected to the City Council of Kent, Washington in November 2017.
• Manka Dhingra of Washington became the first Sikh woman elected to a state legislature in November 2017.^[17]
• Pargat S. Sandhu was elected as mayor of Galt, California on Dec 3, 2019. He became the first Sikh to be elected for City Council and Mayor for the city of Galt.

Settlement[]

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The most concentrated Sikh community in the United States has traditionally resided in agricultural Yuba City, California,^[18] although this agglomeration has since dispersed as Sikhs have gained a greater educational foundation, enabling them to have now spread out to metropolitan areas all over the United States. The largest and most rapidly growing Sikh community in New York City is based in the Richmond Hill area of the borough of Queens; the majority consist of more recent emigres from India and Canada.^[19] Conversely, in the , most members comprise both recent and more established Jatt Sikhs and Ramgarhia Sikhs. Most Sikhs of Española, New Mexico are non-Punjabi converts to Sikhism.

History[]

First immigrants[]

Sikhs have lived in the United States for more than 130 years. The first Sikh immigrants to the United States started to arrive in the second half of the 19th century, when poor economic conditions in British India drove many Indians to emigrate elsewhere. Most Sikh immigrants to the United States came from the province of Punjab and came to the U.S. to work on agricultural farms in California, travelling via Hong Kong to Angel Island.^[20]

In the years just after 1900, hundreds of Sikhs had arrived to work in the lumber mills of Bellingham, Washington. In 1907, 400–500 white men, predominantly members of the Asiatic Exclusion League, attacked the Sikh's homes in what is now known as the Bellingham riots. This quickly drove the East Indian immigrants out of the town.^[21][22][23]

Some Sikhs worked in lumber mills of Oregon or in railroad construction and for some Sikhs it was on a railway line, which allowed other Sikhs who were working as migrant laborers to come into the town on festival days.^{[24][unreliable source?]}

A big effect on Sikh migration to the western states occurred during World War I and World War II, where Sikhs were recruited by the British Indian Army to serve for them. Sikhs fought bravely during these wars and began to live in England after their serving period. Among the Sikhs who already lived in America prior to the wars, many Sikhs joined them, mainly during World Wars I and II. Among those who served in the US military include Bhagat Singh Thind in World War I.

The first Sikh gurdwara established in the U.S. was the Gurdwara Sahib Stockton, in Stockton, California, which was established in 1912.^[25]

Discrimination after the September 11 attacks[]

Sikhs of America parade float at the 2016 Martin Luther King Day parade in Midtown Houston

Houston Sikh Community at the 2016 Martin Luther King Day parade in Midtown Houston

2018 Sikh Festival and Parade, San Francisco Civic Center

As a result of the September 11 attacks, some Sikh Americans have become subject to discrimination, often from individuals who mistakenly believe that they are Arab or Muslim.

Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner, was killed on September 15, 2001 due to being mistaken for a Muslim. In a 2011 report to the United States Senate, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported several assaults and incidents of arson at Sikh temples after September 11. All were labeled as hate crimes that resulted from the perpetrators' misconceptions that their targets were Muslim.^[26] In August 2012, a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin was the site of a shooting, leading to six Sikh individuals being killed.^[27] On May 7, 2013, an elderly Sikh man was attacked with an iron bar in Fresno, California in a possible hate crime.^[28] On September 21, 2013, Prabhjot Singh, a Sikh professor was attacked in Harlem, New York by a group of 20-30 men who branded him as "Osama" and Terrorist".^[29]

A 2007 survey of Sikh students by the Sikh Coalition found that three out of four male students interviewed "had been teased or harassed on account of their religious identity."^[30] In 2014, the Sikh Coalition released a national report on the bullying of Sikh children in American schools. The report found that 55.8% of Sikh students surveyed in Indianapolis reported being bullied, while 54.5% of Sikh students surveyed in Fresno, California reported being bullied.^[31] According to the surveys, Sikh students wearing turbans are twice as likely to be bullied as the average American child.

Converts[]

In the 1960s, due to increased Indian immigration and rising interest in Indian spirituality in the American counterculture, a number of non-Punjabi Americans began to enter 3HO. Prominent in this trend was Yogi Bhajan, leader of the Sikh-related movement 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization), whose Los Angeles temple was the first to introduce non-Punjabi Americans to Sikhism.^[3]

Notable Sikh Americans[]

• Taegh Sokhey, created the world's first virtual reality Alzheimer's/Dementia tool, entrepreneur, medical researcher
• Ravinder Bhalla, Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey
• Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, 2009–2017
• Gurbaksh Chahal, entrepreneur
• Sant Singh Chatwal, businessperson
• Vikram Chatwal, hotelier and actor
• Harmeet Dhillon, vice chairman of the California Republican Party
• Gurpal Samra, Mayor of Livingston, California, 1996 to current; first Sikh elected mayor in the United States
• Gurbir Grewal, Attorney General of New Jersey, and former prosecutor of Bergen County, New Jersey
• Ryan Hurst, actor, converted to Sikhism and uses the Sikh name Gobind Seva Singh^[32]
• Narinder Singh Kapany, physicist
• Snatam Kaur, singer, songwriter, and author
• , physician and medical researcher in the field of Alzheimer's disease
• Harpreet Sandhu, member of the Richmond City Council (California), 2007–2008
• Dalip Singh Saund, member of United States House of Representatives from California's 29th district, 1957–1963; first Asian Pacific American member of Congress
• Arjun Singh Sethi, civil rights writer, political rights writer, human rights lawyer, and professor of law
• Balvir Singh, Freeholder, Burlington County, New Jersey
• G. B. Singh, author
• Bhagat Singh Thind, first turbaned soldier in United States Army; plaintiff in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, involving an important legal battle over the rights of Indians to obtain U.S. citizenship
• Harbhajan Singh Yogi, yogi, spiritual teacher, and entrepreneur
• Waris Ahluwalia, actor and tastemaker
• , City council member of Kent, Washington
• Simran Jeet Singh, author and civil rights activist
• Satyendra Huja, city council member and mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia from 2012-2014.
• Preet Didbal, mayor of Yuba City, California; first Sikh woman mayor
• Manka Dhingra, state senator of Washington; first Sikh state senator
• Sandeep Dhaliwal, First member of the Sikh community in Harris County, Texas to be allowed to wear his turban and beard while on duty as a Harris County Sheriff’s deputy. Murdered by a motorist during a traffic stop in 2019.

See also[]

• Indian American
• Indians in the New York City metropolitan region
• Sikhism by country
• List of gurdwaras in the United States
• Murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi
• Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting

References[]

Further reading[]

• Atkinson, David C. The burden of white supremacy: Containing Asian migration in the British empire and the United States (U North Carolina Press, 2016).
• Hawley, John Stratton, and Gurinder Singh Mann. Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America (State University of New York Press, 1993).
• Kurien, Prema. "Shifting US racial and ethnic identities and Sikh American activism." RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 4.5 (2018): 81-98. online
• Mahmood, Cynthia Keppley, and Stacy Brady. The Guru's Gift: An Ethnography Exploring Gender Equality with North American Sikh Women (Mayfield Publishers, 2000).
• Mann, Gurinder Singh et al. Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America (Oxford University Press, 2008).
• Sidhu, Dawinder S., and Neha Singh Gohil. Civil Rights in Wartime: The Post-9/11 Sikh Experience (Ashgate, 2009).
• Stabin, Tova. "Sikh Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 4, Gale, 2014), pp. 179–192. Online

External links[]

• Sikh Research Institute
• Center for Sikh and Punjab Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara