Today, somewhere in the United States, somebody will yell "terrorist" or some other epithet at an innocent American simply because of how they look.
Last week, in what is now becoming too frequent an occurrence for many Americans, it was my turn to be falsely labeled based on my Sikh appearance. My crime? As a two-term city councilman in Hoboken, I shared an innocuous tweet about new bike lanes in our city. In response, I was asked, "how the hell did Hoboken allow this guy to become a councilman? [He] shouldn't even be allowed in the U.S. #Terrorist."
These offensive remarks raise an important question for us as Americans: what is the proper response, as a civil society, to a rising tide of hate speech and violence in America in 2016? As Donald Trump and others continue to inject charged xenophobic political rhetoric into our public discourse, the climate of fear directed towards minority communities across our nation has worsened dramatically. What is the proper response?
Hoboken and its residents have answered this question in a manner that raises the bar and sets a fitting example for the rest of our country. Everyone from ordinary residents to local political adversaries has condemned this hate speech, with calls and emails of support and solidarity. As a community, our response in Hoboken was to put our differences aside and come together in condemning bigotry and racism.
After serving Hoboken residents for nearly seven years, I am not surprised by their reaction to this incident. My very election and re-election in a community with a very small Asian population is evidence that Hoboken residents are more concerned about my ability to tackle challenging issues — like integrating bike lanes into a city reliant on street parking - than my physical appearance as a Sikh American. In turn, my Sikh turban and beard represent the exact same values manifested by Hoboken's residents — that all women and men are created equal and should be judged by their conduct and character, not their race or religion.
Nevertheless, on a national level, the problem of bigotry and racism persists. According to the Sikh Coalition, a U.S. civil rights organization that tracks and combats bigotry, Sikh Americans have witnessed a steady increase in cases of profiling, backlash and hate crimes over the past six months. Racists in our own country have desecrated Sikh gurdwaras (houses of worship) and brutally assaulted innocent Sikh Americans. Other minority communities, including the Latino and Muslim communities have also experienced a step up in racially charged incidents.
In my experience, the best antidote to ignorance is education. It is the many small things, like talking to our friends and neighbors, which each and every one of us can do. These small steps, taken together over time, will make our nation a better place.
Sikh Americans have been an integral part of the American fabric for generations. My turban and beard represent my commitment to equality, justice and diversity. These values are not only Sikh, they are also distinctly American. In Hoboken, my faith represents the rich diversity of our community and reinforces why I'm so proud to represent Hoboken's residents.
We remain at our very best as a nation when we stand together and celebrate the diversity that makes Hoboken and the rest of the United States great. We are a nation of immigrants, where each new wave has strengthened and reinvigorated our nation.
It is important at a time when loud, bigoted and divisive voices are crowding the public square that we remind the public of this basic fact and celebrate a nation founded on the unifying idea that we are all created equal. We must continue to call out bigotry and hatred when we see it in our community, but in a manner that does not lower ourselves to the level of those that spew hate speech.
Fear mongering and divisiveness has never worked to solve our differences and no public official, locally or nationally, should ever be telling you otherwise.
Ravinder S. Bhalla is a Councilman-at-Large of the City of Hoboken since 2009, and a partner at the law firm of Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader, LLC. He is married with two children, ages 9 and 4.
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