Editorial

This week I was scheduled to give an editorial talk and timing of this coincided with something that was very personal, near and dear to me. Here is what I spoke about: " The news of the Wisconsin Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) massacre has captured the attention of the local and international media and rightfully so. The notion that a gunman, let alone a reputed white supremacist, would have the audacity to walk into a house of worship and murder innocent people simply boogles the mind. In the days and weeks to follow many questions will no doubt be raised key among them, who was this gunman? What were his motivations? Did he act alone? All of these questions will of course no doubt be answered in time as law enforcement begins the methodic and painstaking task of investigating this heinous crime. What remains to been seen however is what will the response of our elected officials and communities throughout America be? There will no doubt be countless vigils, remembrances and calls for action. But until and unless this country and it's elected leadership take a firm stand and take concrete steps to root out hate in all it's forms, then this tragedy will have simply become just another footnote in the long history of gun violence in our country. While many great strides have been made post 9/11, more most be done. Schools must adopt lesson plans that incorporate accurate and meaningful depictions of Sikhs and Sikhism, media must do a better job at educating the broader public and not reinforce negative stereotypes. Lastly government officials must begin to do more than issue empty proclamations of support for the community. Our leaders need to ensure that census figures reflect religious diversity so that policy makers can make informed choices of where to direct resources. Finally our federal law enforcement officials must begin to track hate and bias motivated attacks against the Sikh Community instead of lumping us together with Muslims and Arabs. How can one expect to identify solutions, when there is no meaningful way to identify the problem? Hopefully the tragedy of Oak Creek will help bring about the changes that are long overdue. The sooner the better. The country and indeed the world, cannot simply afford to wait. " Upon delivering this I received very good feedback on how I could improve myself. I noticed the importance of rehearsing as well, you only get one chance on television!!!