On Saturday night, a Sikh professor was walking near Central Park when he was attacked by about 20 men. He was severely beaten while the men harassed him with anti-Islamic slurs. Prior to the attack he had written about hate crimes against Sikhs, which are more often than not provoked because of the resemblance between Sikhs and traditional Muslims.
I believe that this attack goes to show the continuation of discrimination against Muslims. Some of the slurs that were used were "get Osama" and "terrorist". Since 9/11, hate crimes against Sikhs have become more prevalent. Even consisting of harassment, occasionally physical violence, against Sikh children in schools. Ignorance is the root of these crimes. Not only the ignorance of not differentiating between religions and judging based upon a unjust stereotype. Also, the ignorance of intending to attack innocent Muslims. It is a shame, not only that people are so hateful, but also that so many harmless Sikhs have been victims of vicious attacks. Especially considering the nature of the Sikh religion. They are peaceful and grateful people. People need to be educated on the differences in religions, and must be encouraged to be tolerant and respectful of one another regardless of what religion they practice.
Wow it's sad how our country has progressed, (and not in a good way). I wish we were able to ignore races and stereotypes and just let innocent people lead their own lives.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad that hate crimes like this still happen in our country. Also if this was in Central Park, a public place, why didn't people try to stop the attackers? I hope that people in our country can soon look past racial and religious differences and be tolerant of everyone
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that most of the conflicts and violence surrounding religion are due to both ignorance and generilizations about other religions. It is unfortunate that these generalizations are very negative and almost always assume the worst about the other religion. Also, it is frightening that people have so much anger and hate towards another religion that they would go so far as to cause physical harm to another.
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