It was freshman year, and I was sitting in my second period honors biology class. My table group and I had just finished and submitted the lab assignment that we had been working on that week. A sense of accomplishment filled the room and made everyone’s spirit a little bit brighter. Two of my friends and I were hanging out by the turtle aquarium in the corner of the room when one of our classmates approached us with his phone in his hand. He showed us the slightly cracked screen, displaying an Instagram page. I thought it was another one of the meme sites the guys like to pass around, but I noticed my full name- “kabir.singh.chawla”- was the username of the page, and felt confused because I personally didn’t have an Instagram. Startled, I noticed that my name was followed by three numbers: “9/11”. I quickly scanned the rest of the page, and clicked on a photo. It was a picture of me, drinking a juice box, with a racial slur typed over it. The sense of accomplishment I had felt instantly vanished, and my mind started churning with thoughts, while the sound of laughter erupted around me.
As a turban-wearing Sikh American growing up in a primarily white, suburban society, I was used to the bullying and discrimination that seemingly came with wrapping my uncut hair with a cloth every morning. I felt that I was constantly having to defend myself, telling my peers who I am and who I’m not. I thought to myself: is this what being a Sikh really means?
Because I am one of the oldest youth members at the gurudwara who has not yet gone to college, parents who have younger kids often ask me for advice. Their children are often bullied, and many have gone to principals and family members for help. They ask me if it will ever get better. In my opinion, when people get to know you better over the years and, as people mature, the amount of bullying decreases. Surprisingly, those who are uneducated about Sikhi don’t go out of their way to bully someone. I have found that the people who are familiar with Sikhs are the ones who try to demean our values and identities. So my advice to them is that the only thing we can do is be confident with ourselves and our beliefs because that is the whole point of having the Sikh identity.
The truth is that most young Sikhs are bullied or discriminated against throughout their childhoods. We stand out and that makes us the target for others who are uneducated about our identity. My dad always told me that “the cameras are always going to be on you” because of the way our faith is visible to others, and this has proven to be true wherever we go. However, I have realized that standing out means we have the opportunities to let our voices be heard and do good in our societies. The gurus wanted us to stand so we would be easily recognizable in a time of need. From what I have learned, that is the beauty of wearing a turban: to be unique and wear it as a crown, signifying a promise to do good in the world and stand up for injustice.
In essence, although this story was somewhat directed at younger Sikh teens, I hope that those who are older can relate to my story and have grown from the bullying they may have experienced. Sikhteens was created to be an open platform for teens to discuss topics both within and outside of Sikhi, such as bullying. Therefore, we should learn, discuss, and grow as a community based on respect for all.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!
Kabir Singh, 17, IL
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