I also had a co-worker recently tell me a story of being scared of a man in a turban. I knew she was going to say something stupid when her story began with about 5 minutes of prefaces about how open-minded she is and how doesn’t care what religion you are.
In general, she is a terrible person, so I wasn’t surprised.
You’re mean, tell her she’s racist!
No, not “baba”, I think. It’s Gurdwara, right? I have one just down the street from me, too, so if I see a turban, I naturally think Sikh before Muslim.
I think a terrorist scoping out a potential target would dispense with his turban, even if it’s something he’d normally wear, so as not to arouse suspicion. Terrorists are devious that way.
Gurdwara is correct. Assuming it’s actually a house of worship and not a community center or something.
Saw a guy at work today who was wearing a green turban.
Does that mean he’s an eco-terrorist?
That’s kind of hard to believe.
A quick check shows that there are no definitive numbers, but that there are probably on the order of 200,000 Sikhs in the US.
There are about ten times as many Episcopalians
And for all those who say that they know a Sikh when the see one, or that there’s a Sikh population center near you - fine, but I’m talking about typical Americans. I’ll bet the majority of Americans have no idea what a Sikh is, nor how to spell the word.
If a terrorist really wants to accomplush something, like blowing up a building or some such ugliness, they aren’t going to make themselves stand out in our American culture and wear an item of clothing that pings people’s sensitivity radar. They will dress to fit in. I can’t remember where I heard it, but I once read a quote “If you want to pick out the spy in the crowd find the most average looking person there.”
Being scared by a turban wearing person is nonsense.
You mean that I, a white, Episcopal, middle-aged female, am not a typical American? I didn’t know being well read and knowing how to spell properly put me outside the norm. Give folks some credit. Or do you mean you know more than the rest of us?
The problem here is not in assuming that a person wearing a turban must be Muslim. The problem is in assuming that a Muslim must be up to no good. The misidentification wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the bigotry.
A long time ago, I ran across someone’s doctoral thesis on Sikhism in a box of free books. It was fascinating; I thought it sounded like a thoughtful and balanced faith. Ever since then, I have been waiting for the right situation and circumstances to make a respectful reference to Nanak in conversation.
Around here, many Sikhs are taxi drivers. Something I have always wondered about is that all of the Sikh men I have seen wore a ring with a red stone. Does anybody know if this has significance or if it’s just coincidence?
Spiderman: The other day I saw a guy wearing a green turban too. It was an awesome shade of green.
The Sikhs I have met are interesting folks. There are a lot around where I live and several families in my building. Last year my glasses fell off looking over my balcony and ultimately the frames broke in the courtyard of my sikh neighbours. They invited me in while they got got the frames and, despite the fact that they had already eaten and cleaned up, prepared me a meal. They sat and chatted with me as I ate.
I asked them about a huge poster they had on the wall. A young, very handsome Sikh in a gold turban is standing in an alley or doorway at night with a pistol in his hand. It turns out that he is Baghat Singh, hero to all the Sikhs and the “real reason for India’s independence.” Surprisingly he turns out to be a socialist freedom fighter who was executed by the British when only 23.
It seems an odd connection for such easy going peaceful people.
Speaking as an amateur photographer, this is a very offensive attitude. This is the sort of thing that leads police and private security to harass people for taking pictures of malls, office buildings, and so forth.
There’s a large group on Flickr called “Photography is not a Crime.” I strongly suggest that you browse through it.
For instance, is there anything wrong with this picture? The photographer was questioned by the police for “suspicious activity.”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aonghais/25089613816/in/pool-photography_is_not_a_crime/
Or what about this one? Anybody who planned to blow up this building would be an extremely stupid, incompetent terrorist.
This guy was harassed by both private security and the FBI for taking a photo of public art.
I suggest that you take a good hard look at your willingness to compromise other people’s rights in order to make yourself feel better about a virtually non-existent risk.
The last example is particularly stupid; of course people are going to take pictures of that LNG tank.