Thread by @SikhProf

As tensions between the US and Iran escalate, so do the vulnerabilities of many marginalized communities.

A short thread on how this hate will impact the estimated 1 million Sikhs who live in North America — and how their experiences represent a microcosm of our collective pain.

Sikhism is the world's 5th largest religion, yet most Americans don't know about it.

While they are invisibilized, Sikhs carry a unique, visible identity including long uncut hair, turbans, and beards.

This combination of being unseen and hyper-visibility has proven lethal.

Upon first arriving in this country, Sikhs were targeted in violent race riots in Bellingham, Washington. At the time, Americans misidentified Sikhs as Hindus. This was over a century ago. Racist attacks have continued in the years and decades since.

Xenophobic hate often tracks with US foreign policy.

When my father immigrated to the US in the 1970s, people pejoratively called him "Ayatollah" and "Iranian."

Growing up in Texas, I was Sadaam and Iraqi.

After 9-11, we became Taliban.

In the past decade we have been ISIS.

The first casualty of a hate-crime after 9/11 was a Sikh named Balbir Singh Sodhi. His murderer called him a number of slurs, including 'Iranian' and 'Raghead.'

In 2012, a white supremacist massacred a congregation of Sikhs at their place of worship in Wisconsin.

For most of my lifetime, Americans have confused Sikhs for Muslims due to misguided stereotypes. Given the rampant Islamophobia in this country and around the world, and given their noticeable appearance, this misidentification has put Sikhs at immense risk.

This racist violence is getting worse. Last year, the FBI recorded a 200% increase in violent hate crimes against Sikhs -- and that's based on data from only 13 percent of law enforcement offices nationwide, so the real numbers are likely higher.

Sikhs have made a consistent commitment to stand in solidarity with Muslims and to stand against Islamophobic hate.

This has meant a sustained effort to not deflect hate toward their Muslim sisters and brothers. Instead, we try to confront hate at its root.

The approach of standing in solidarity often means life is harder for us -- but we make this choice because it's the right thing to do and because we know that we will never overcome hate when we deflect it. We have to take it on directly.

Many Americans will see images of Iranian leaders on the news and create images of who their enemies are -- brown-skinned men with turbans and beards.

This stereotype fits many Sikhs precisely, and it is a recipe for anti-Sikh targeting across this country.

I wish that more Americans were wise enough to refrain from generalizing about people based on their appearances.

I also wish that more Americans were less inclined to seeing fellow human beings as "enemies."

Unfortunately, though, we all know that this is not our reality.

This thread is a case study on Sikh experiences. It's also about how racism and violence work.

Don't let people fool you into thinking that people who look different or believe different are inferior to you. We all carry the same light equally -- and we're all in this together.