Rose Parade

In the midst of hate crimes and verbal attacks, the float told another side of the roughly 125-year history of Sikhs in America. A collaboration of United Sikh Mission, SikhLens, Khalsa Care Foundation, SALDEF and a team of dedicated Sikhs around the country, the float aimed to raise awareness about Sikhism in America, both past and present.

“The theme of this year’s Rose Parade is inspiring American stories," Rashpal Dhindsa, founder of United Sikh Mission told the Huffington Post. "That is why the Sikh American story was such a great fit for the parade organizers this year.”

The float was modeled after the Stockton Gurdwara, the first Sikh house of worship established in the United States 102 years ago, SALDEF said in a press release. Also included in the design was a cornucopia and a locomotive to represent Sikh laborers and farmers like Didar Singh Bains, known as the ‘Peach King of California’ for growing the largest number of peaches in the country.

Twelve community members, including members of California-based police forces, the national Army, a film student and civil rights advocates, were also featured on the float to display the diversity and values of the Sikh community.

"It's not what we believe in," Rashpal Dhindsa, who came up with the idea of the Rose Parade float, told Los Angeles Times. "It's about who we are."

The float arrives at a time when misperceptions and antagonism run high against Sikhs in the United States. In 2013, SALDEF teamed up with researchers from Stanford University to conduct the first public perception assessment of Sikh Americans -- entitled Turban Myths -- which revealed discouraged results. Seventy percent of Americans could not identify a fellow Sikh American and one out of every five Americans experienced anger or apprehension when they saw a Sikh stranger with a turban and beard.

It is because of these misconceptions that activist and PhD candidate Simran Jeet Singh said the float's ability to raise awareness was "a life and death proposition." Writing in TIME about his decision to fly to Los Angeles to stand on the float, Singh continued:

The story of Sikhs in America is compelling because it is the quintessential American story. Sikhs came to this country in the late 1800s to make a better life for themselves and their families. [...]

Like every other immigrant community, Sikhs persevered through bouts of xenophobia and discrimination. The first race riots targeting American Sikhs occurred in 1907 in Bellingham, Washington. Despite serving with the U.S. Army during World War I, Bhagat Singh Thind was denied U.S. citizenship because of his ethnicity.

The Sikh community persevered through these challenges and has become an integral part of the American fabric. American Sikhs have made a number of notable contributions to the global society, including the invention of fiber optics, the defense of human rights violations, and the production of world renowned devotional music.

It’s time we start telling this story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/02/rose-parade-sikh-float_n_6406734.html