THE BIG STORY
Original Article
April 20, 2021
The Recast
The mass shooting at a FedEx operations center in Indianapolis on Thursday has American Sikhs once again on high alert.
Four of the eight workers killed were members of the city’s tight-knit religious community, and the facility employs a significant number of Sikhs. The gunman, a young white man, was a former employee. He killed himself before police arrived on the scene.
Law enforcement has not released a motive.
But because the shooter had intimate knowledge of the facility — and knew who worked there — many Sikhs say the attack was targeted. It also took place a month after other members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community were the targets of a mass shooting in Atlanta.
The Recast reached out to Sim Singh, the senior manager of policy and advocacy for the The Sikh Coalition, which estimates there are a half-million Sikhs living in the U.S. On Tuesday, the group formally called on state and local officials to fully investigate the matter to “understand the role racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy may have played” in the attack.
Singh also weighs in on the notion that a single White House liaison can truly be the point person on all things AAPI. Spoiler alert: No.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
THE RECAST: What are you hearing from other members of the community about last week’s shooting? How is it impacting them?
SIM SINGH: The entire community is just devastated and deeply saddened by the loss of life, both our fellow Sikhs and their colleagues as well. And so they’re still in a state of mourning and they’re trying to make sense of this tragedy.
Members of the Sikh Coalition gather at the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis on April 17 to formulate the group's response to the shooting at a FedEx facility. | Michael Conroy/AP Photo
THE RECAST: Do Sikhs feel it was a targeted attack?
SIM SINGH: If you’re Sikh it’s impossible to look at the tragedy that unfolded in Indianapolis and not immediately consider the possibility that bias was a motivator, whether it be explicit anti-Sikh bias or implicit racism. Look, nobody should jump to any conclusions. And we’re the first to urge caution. But what’s undeniable is that this FedEx facility was very well established as a place of employment for an extremely high number of Sikh employees. And the gunman knew that.
THE RECAST: Is there anything your organization is proposing to ensure members of your community feel safe? Are there the policy proposals the Sikh Coalition is considering pushing on the state or federal level now?
SIM SINGH: I think there are many things that policymakers can do. I think at the executive level, one of our longstanding asks is to appoint a Sikh American liaison to the White House Office of Public Engagement. This would also address some of the decades of sentiment that we have been largely ignored in the aftermath of the 9/11 backlash attacks and the violence that continues to have reverberations, that manifest themselves in hate and bullying and profiling that continue even to this day.
And look, there are things that Congress can do as well. We’ve long advocated for the need for better hate crime reporting. And recently the Jabara-Heyer No HATE Act was reintroduced.
THE RECAST: Do you feel as though there has been the same kind of groundswell of support like there was following the Atlanta shooting? I don’t know how to ask this question, but do you feel the nation views Sikhs as members of the Asian community?
SIM SINGH: I think there has been a lack of a home for the South Asian community. And look, the Sikh faith is not a monolith. We have a huge proportion of members of the Sikh community who hail from South Asia, specifically from Punjab. But there definitely are others from all over the world who adhere to the faith. I think this has been a challenge that we’ve been all trying to organize and rally together. And the AAPI community has been welcoming of the South Asian community and ensuring that we are together as one in advocating against hate.
THE RECAST: The White House last week named Erika Moritsugu as the Asian American and Pacific Islander Liaison. You mention South Asians have had a challenge of being brought into the fold of the greater AAPI community. Do you have reason to be hopeful with a White House liaison in place that your issues are going to be heard at the highest level of government?
SIM SINGH: Our concerns sometimes are very nuanced and unique. And there is a need for a liaison for our community. It’s great that we have this White House AAPI liaison, but I think it would be even better if we can have someone who can best understand the needs of targeted and vulnerable communities who have not just issues with hate discrimination, but also with employment discrimination, law enforcement profiling, massive rates of school bullying, public accommodations issues.
It’s not just about race, it is also about religion, culture and language access.
