Gubir Grewal made history as the first Sikh state attorney general in the U.S. and wants to bring other Sikh and Asian Americans along with him.
In this video he gives an encouraging message to Sikhs and minorities in the U.S.
"I went into public service shortly after 9/11. Everyone's life changed that day. People lost family members. People were killed. And the tragedy of that sort of continued after it, was the impact on minority communities like Muslims, the Sikh community in particular... If I'm getting mistaken for somebody else and someone is exerting their hateful on me or attack me because they think I'm something else, the answer for me is not to say, 'I'm Sikh, not Muslim'. That's the wrong answer. Sikhs believe in justice; they believe in love. It's a very compassionate religion. And the foundational principles of the religion revolve around service. I find what I'm doing to be completely in line with that..."
"... I have a broad experience dealing with injustice, dealing with discrimination. And I have the ability to really leverage the tools of our office to push back, to push back against this type of conduct when we see it in our communities, to say that we have zero tolerance for it.
I think that unless and until more individuals - Asian Americans, Sikh Americans, from different backgrounds - get involved in public service, once those front-line positions start looking like the diversity of this country, I think that helps build acceptance and tolerance."
"Being an Asian American, a Sikh American, there are no limitations on the on their success that should pursue, whatever it is they want to pursue in public service. And they could achieve whatever it is they hope to achieve. That's the American dream right? That notion that no matter where you come from, what you believe, who you love, who you don't, if you work hard, you can achieve success in this country."