Voting for Moral Leadership in This Election
By Amman Seehra
While mourning the tragedy of September 11, 2001, I also grieved the tragedy of the American response to people of color, particularly those with brown skin. During that time, I was a normal kid, born and raised in New Jersey, and I also wore a turban. In the Sikh faith, the turban represents equality, respect, and a duty to help those in need. However, after September 11th, I was no longer viewed as an American. I was told by too many people to go back to the country I came from, as if America was not my homeland.
In the Sikh faith, we are taught to act in the face of injustice. So in response to the hatred I experienced, I spent the next 19 years working to make our country more accepting. I have trained hundreds of law enforcement officers, lectured to dozens of groups on social justice, and even developed a diversity and inclusion strategic plan for a federal agency.
At the first debate between President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden, Trump was asked to condemn white supremacists. The President of the United States responded by telling white supremacists to “stand back and stand by” on national television. During the ensuing days, people attempted to spin his words as “that’s not what he meant,” “it was taken out of context,” and even perhaps he “misspoke.” But did President Trump misspeak when he said “we have very fine people on both sides” in reference to neo-Nazis? Maybe President Trump “didn’t mean it” when he said “why are we having all these people from s-hole countries come here?” Is it possible that President Trump “was taken out of context” when he said “it is a conflict of interest because (an American born) judge is of Mexican descent?” What about when President Trump perpetuated a racist birther movement against President Obama for six years or imposed an unconstitutional ban on entry that targeted a single faith? Trump has made racist statements, posted or retweeted white supremacist tweets, and passed xenophobic policies too many times for us to simply brush off his comments as innocent misunderstandings.
The true misconception is that racism will just get better as time passes — that it will miraculously fix itself. The reality is that President Trump’s actions and words mean that my kids are growing up in a country that is even more intolerant and unwelcoming than when I grew up. It means that the white man who yelled at my 3-year old son because he looked different is just the beginning of racism that he will face. It means that the years of efforts to expand the diversity and inclusion program at the federal level, including multiple programs about the discrimination faced by the Sikh community, can be cancelled with a memo where President Trump calls the trainings anti-American. It means that the hours of vacation time I took from work so I could volunteer my time to train government officials and law enforcement about Sikhs can be undone, leaving the community unable to dispel false stereotypes and reduce discrimination.
The past few months, I have seen the Sikh community courageously stepping up to serve food to those suffering from the effects of the pandemic, wildfires, and hurricanes. Now I ask the Sikh community to take another courageous step and vote against the racism that President Trump has promoted. I believe that Vice President Joe Biden will uphold the basic tenets that this country was built on and that Sikh Americans hold closely: that all people are created equal and that power does not emanate from promoting oneself but instead by helping others.
Vote for Vice President Joe Biden so that the Sikh community is seen as an asset instead of a threat. Vote for Vice President Joe Biden so that gurdwaras will be less likely to be targets of hate crimes. Vote for Vice President Joe Biden because he will courageously stand up against white supremacist who cannot see past the color of our skin. Vote for Vice President Joe Biden so that my children and your children can live their life without experiencing the encounter my 3-year old son did.
Vote for love so that we can stop the hate.
