Mansimran: A Sikh Teenager Deals with Bullying
Meet Mansimran. He's an all-American guy who likes Starbucks, hoops, and robotics. He's a student, an older brother, and an active member of his Sikh religious community. Sometimes, when strangers see his turban, and the color of his skin, they lean out their car window and call him a "terrorist." He's not alone: especially since September 11, Sikh Americans and other communities have become targets of discrimination, racial profiling and bullying, human rights violations, and hate crimes. (One survey found that, even 6 years after the events of 2001, 75% of Sikh male schoolchildren in New York had been teased or harassed on the basis of their religious identity.) How does Mansimran handle it? "My response is, 'Come over here, sit down, I'll tell you about Sikhism, I'll tell you who I am," he explains. In other words, he totally takes it in stride ---- but it shouldn't be that way in the first place. We are all on the same team, after all ---- and we should take a page from Mansimran's playbook by standing up against racial profiling and bullying, reaching out across differences, upholding human rights, and treating everyone around us with the American ---- and human-rights ---- values of dignity, equality, and respect. You can stand with Mansimran ---- and against racist bullying ---- by getting to know him and sharing his video. www.restorefairness.org www.breakthrough.tv