When I arrived back to my apartment late on Tuesday night, the eleventh anniversary of September 11, 2001, I opened my laptop to find a burning, bright orange image of a man stoking fire and a New York Times headline reading, “Anger Over a Film Fuels Anti-American Attacks in Libya and Egypt.” As I read …
Trends we can’t ignore: 4) The threat of white supremacist hate groups
The recent terrorist attack on the Sikh gurdwara was committed by Wade Page, a white supremacist and member of the hate group, Hammerskin Nation. The attack highlights the threat of white supremacist hate groups, a threat that has been consciously sidelined by the federal government, whose leaders are cowing to political pressure. According to the …
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Trends we can’t ignore: 3) The recent rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes
My last post discussed post-9/11 hate crimes against American Sikhs, many of whom were targeted because they were thought to be Muslim. It’s no surprise, then, that American Muslims too have experienced a wave of hate crimes directed at their own community. In the year after September 11, anti-Muslim hate crimes rose by a staggering …
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Trends we can’t ignore: 2) Anti-Sikh hate crimes
In my last post, I discussed the problem of religious illiteracy in America. One sad result of this illiteracy is the wave of hate crimes against Sikh Americans in the wake of September 11. Valerie Kaur, an activist and film-maker who has documented hate crimes against Sikhs in post 9/11-America, writes that “Sikh men with …
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Trends we can’t ignore: 1) Americans’ religious illiteracy
In recent years, numerous polls and reports have illustrated Americans’ ignorance about the basics of minority religions. But the media’s coverage of the terrorist attack at the Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisc. showed us just how religiously illiterate Americans are. During their breaking news coverage of the attack, CNN anchors, clueless about the Sikh …
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JORDAN DENARI DUFFNER 