MESA, Ariz. — Sikh entrepreneur Balbir Singh Sodhi was killed at his Arizona gas station four days after the Sept. 11 attacks by a man who declared he was “going to go out and shoot some towel-heads” and mistook him for an Arab Muslim. Young Sikh Americans still struggle a generation later with the discrimination […]
San Francisco’s Japantown holds vigil against post-election hate
December 1, 2016 by 1 Comment
Two weeks after the election of Donald J. Trump as the next president of the United States, a crowd of about 500 people gathered at San Francisco Japantown’s Peace Plaza Nov. 22 to hold a candlelight vigil to express their unity with the groups affected by the hateful rhetoric that both the president-elect and his […]
Son of Japanese 9/11 victim asks world to never forget
September 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
NEW YORK — Taichi Sugiyama was three years old when he lost his father, Yoichi Sugiyama, on Sept. 11, 2001. Now 16 years old, Sugiyama came to New York to ask the world to “never forget.” On Sept. 11, Sugiyama read aloud names of some of the victims ofthe 9/11 terrorist attacks from a podium […]
Stockton tolerance garden honors WWII-era educator
April 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
STOCKTON, Calif. — Bone-chilling morning breezes didn’t cool the warm feelings of some 125 supporters who gathered at a garden dedication at the San Joaquin Delta College on April 14 to honor late World War II-era educator Elizabeth Humbargar’s decades of service to the Japanese American community. The Stockton chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League […]
Sikh family receives death threat again
March 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
When a Sikh family in Sterling, Va. received a death threat in the form of a letter addressed to “Turban family,” on Feb. 28, it was not the family’s first experience with religiously motivated threats to their safety. They had seen a hate letter of this kind, demanding that the family leave the country or […]
Letter of support to the American Muslim community
September 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s note: The following letter was sent on Sept. 3 to three American Muslim organizations — the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Shura Council of Southern California and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Dear Muslim American Friends, I am writing to you today to extend a hand of support and understanding, and to let […]
Lessons from America’s past important to recall on the 10th anniversary of 9/11
September 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Ten years ago, the United States was shaken by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks upon New York City and Washington, D.C. In the immediate aftermath, the Japanese American National Museum contemplated its role in response to these unthinkable events. Clearly, more than our country’s national security was under attack. Our way of life as a […]
Muslim, Japanese American youth empowered by history
May 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
LOS ANGELES — “Have you ever been called a racist name?” Mustafah Hawari, 17, asks Yuka Ogino, 23, a Japanese American coordinator at the Bridging Communities Program. “Yes, I have,” she tells Hawari and the small group of students sitting on the floor at a mosque in Anaheim, Calif. The students, most of them Muslim […]
AAPI groups support Sikh community after Wis. shootings
Groups from across the nation have condemned the Aug. 5 shootings at a Sikh temple outside Milwaukee, and expressed their support for the community. The shootings left seven people dead, including the gunman, Wade Michael Page. Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy, who was shot several times, is among those who were injured. “The events […]