An increase in hate crimes during election season

by Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man

SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) has been keeping track of an increase in xenophobic violence and rhetoric against South Asians in the weeks and months leading up to the 2008 elections, including assaults targeting immigrants who either supported or were perceived to support President-Elect Obama. Here are a few examples of recent violence against South Asians and other communities of color:

  • Hardwick, New Jersey — On November 6, 2008, an incident occurred in which Alina and Gary Grewal found a cross burned on their front lawn. The cross was wrapped in a congratulatory banner the family had made which read “President Obama, Victory ‘08″.
  • Carteret, New Jersey — On October 30, 2008, an incident occurred in which an elderly Sikh gentleman, Ajit Singh Chima, was punched and kicked repeatedly in the face, suffering fractures in his jaw and near his eyes. This occurred soon after a 10-year-old Sikh boy, Gagandeep Singh, was attacked on October 8, 2008, by an individual who pushed him to the ground and forcibly cut his hair.
  • Staten Island, New York — In early November, an incident occurred in which four white men beat a Liberian-American Muslim teenager, Ali Kamara, near his home. The attackers jumped out of a car and assaulted him with a baseball bat after shouting “Obama.”
  • Providence, Rhode Island — In September 2008, an incident occurred in which a Sikh-American man was accosted by an individual who said, “I have a gun in my car and since you are a hajii no one will care if I kill you. You know why the police won’t do anything? Because I got blond hair and blue eyes.” As the assailant left, he screamed, “F*** Arabs and F*** Obama.”

In light of these incidents, SAALT is re-circulating a basic factsheet on hate crimes with answers to frequently asked questions and resources for those in need. To learn more about the work SAALT is doing, and its services and resources for hate crime victims, visit the SAALT website here.

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Comments

  1. UGLY PUNK GURL! wrote:

    This is hilarious that so many dumb ignorant redneck scumbags think Sikhs are Arab and/or Muslim.

    attention, morons: South Asians are NOT Arabs or Middle Easterns.

    Get your geographic and racist insults right.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 12:25 pm

  2. Lola wrote:

    I’m not suprised, this is exactly the kind of hatred the McCain/Palin campaign was inciting.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 1:04 pm

  3. Joanna Eng wrote:

    I hadn’t heard about these incidents at all.

    On the other hand, I heard plenty about the staged incident where the white woman carved a “B” into her face and said that a black Obama supporter attacked her.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 1:30 pm

  4. Mimi wrote:

    SOOOO scary. It frightens me that this is still an issue and that the Aryan ideal is still a factor “I have blond hair…etc” comment really upset me.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 1:36 pm

  5. minke wrote:

    That’s seriously fucked up, especially when the fake face-carving thing was so overexposed.

    I wonder if the correlation with the election is causation in every case.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 3:02 pm

  6. MK wrote:

    People are so unwilling to accept that our country is changing. Our leaders aren’t always going to be old white men. Unfortunately many citizens still feel that’s the only acceptable kind of leadership in a country full of immigrants and descendants of immigrants.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 4:48 pm

  7. Davina wrote:

    And let’s not forget Dube Egwuatu in the UK, who was shot (with ball bearings, not bullets, but still) for wearing an Obama t-shirt.

    All of these crimes are despicable, but cutting that kid’s hair is especially bad.

    Wankers…

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 4:54 pm

  8. Davina wrote:

    Just realised the post was about non-African-American people, so my comment is a bit tangential and I need to learn to read…but those attackers are still wankers.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 4:56 pm

  9. Ejunco wrote:

    the providence, rhode island one pissed me off

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 5:00 pm

  10. gatamala wrote:

    Sadly, this doesn’t surprise me. Folks under 40 are about to get a taste of what life was like for our parents.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 5:11 pm

  11. jmn wrote:

    Obama’s election has also spurred race crimes around the country. It’s really bringing the rats out of the woodworks. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081116/ap_on_re_us/obama_racial

    It’s especially sad to hear a bus filled with second and third graders in Idaho chanting “assassinate Obama.”

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 5:14 pm

  12. jen* wrote:

    @jmn - that article made me sad.
    @gatamala - sounds like you’re right, we’ll be getting to know [a little] about what things were like for our parents.

    This is ridiculous.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 5:35 pm

  13. withoutscene wrote:

    I really wonder how much of a national trend this will be. There have been some incidents here on Purdue University campus lately, including post-election graffiti with “Fuck Obama” and male genitals on a tree traditionally painted by students where African American students usually hang out and other graffiti with racial epithets. Much of the campus is coming together in solidarity, but I’m really hoping that nothing else happens; I think students of color and other minority groups are definitely more scared than usual.

    Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 9:03 pm

  14. cdf wrote:

    Its silly, but keep your “moron repellent” on the ready…then again, haven’t we seen this in the years BEFORE the election?

    Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 11:01 am

  15. ladymaati wrote:

    @Jmn;thanks for the article.

    This is sad & digusting the people feels they can just let there racist feelings fly. Gun sales are up all over the nation & webs site about moving to Canada are up, or so I was told by a assoicate.

    This election was about change for the better not worse.

    Posted 19 Nov 2008 at 1:40 pm

  16. Puff wrote:

    @ladymaati

    They won’t actually do it, because compared to us, Canada’s national government is downright ~*socialist*~, and what gun toting, God-fearing bigot is going to want to deal with that? Their only hope if they actually go is a cabin miles from any civilization or people to beat up.

    Posted 20 Nov 2008 at 11:41 am

  17. Charlotte wrote:

    As someone raised below the Mason Dixon line that moved to NYC five years ago, one of the things I hear from the natives all the time is how they’re so glad to not be from where I’m from, because “they’re racists down there and we don’t have those problems”.

    I find one of the wackiest things about living in the north to be this idea that racism is a strictly southern problem. I couldn’t help but notice where all of these attacks took place - in the New York City area, where we are so supposedly beyond racism.

    Posted 20 Nov 2008 at 5:45 pm

  18. RChoudh wrote:

    Awful to hear of these crimes still occurring. Right now South Asian immigrant groups seem to be the most vulnerable to such attacks because they’re a relatively young group when compared to others in America and because they are just now organizing to provide resources to victims/seek legal action, etc. I keep having this nagging feeling that such incidents won’t be going away so easily and might even increase based on President Obama’s performance in office. If he should make any sort of mistakes during his tenure or piss off the “powers that be” in America, I’m afraid we’ll be hearing of more incidents like these pretty often (not through MSM usually). I also fear of such attacks increasingly including members of other minority groups based on again the President’s performance in office.

    Posted 20 Nov 2008 at 10:21 pm

  19. truth on all levels wrote:

    to sadly add to this hate crime list: an all black church in Springfield, MA was set on fire on Nov 5th 2008

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/06/black_church_in_springfield_burns/?s_campaign=8315

    Posted 21 Nov 2008 at 3:27 pm

  20. unlawful act wrote:

    Hate crimes, crimes of prejudice should carry a life sentence.

    Posted 16 Mar 2009 at 6:11 am

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