Civil Rights in Wartime: The Post-9/11 Sikh Experience

In the days, months, and now years following the events of September 11th, discrimination against the Sikh community in America has escalated sharply, due in part to a populace that often confuses Sikhs, compelled by their faith to wear turbans, with the Muslim extremists responsible for the devastating terrorist attacks. Although Sikhs have since mobilized to spread awareness and condemn violence against themselves and Muslims, there has been a conspicuous absence of academic literature to aid scholars and commentators in understanding the effect of the backlash on the Sikh community, the group disproportionately impacted by post-9/11 discrimination. The authors of this important new book share accounts of public and private discrimination in several contexts involving turbaned Sikhs in America; investigate the American legal remedies available to turbaned Sikhs affected by discriminatory conduct; compare these remedies to those available in other Western societies; and address attempts by the government and Sikhs to mitigate the pernicious effects of the post-9/11 backlash. This volume provides a unique window onto a particular minority group's experience in an increasingly hostile climate, and offers a sharp analysis of the legal battles fought by Sikhs in post-9/11 America. In doing so, it adds a new chapter to the ongoing national story of the difficulties minority groups have faced in protecting their civil liberties in times of war.