Oak Creek Gurudwara Shootings On Sunday, August 5th, Wade Michael Page strode into a Sikh temple, known

as a Gurudwara, and shot indiscriminately at worshippers: men, women, and children. While later discovered to be a white supremacist, the nation was stunned by the second mass shooting in less than a month. While there are several politically charged arguments that have arisen after violent attack, whether it be gun control laws, white supremacists movements in the United States, lack of coverage by major networks, what if the victims had been white-the issue that bothered me the most was that of the mistaken identity. News channels and their websites were describing Page attacking the Sikh community thinking they were Muslims. Now maybe this hit me more than usual because I am Muslim, but I couldnt help thinking about if he had attacked a mosque: would that be considered a justified attack? Sikhs have been mistaken as Muslims for years in this country- the first anti-Muslim hate crime after the 9/11 attacks was on Balbir Singh Sodhi, a 49 year old Sikh gas station owner who was neither Arab nor Muslim. There have been numerous attacks on Sikhs, which have generally not received the same media coverage as other incidents in this country. I was hopeful that coverage of this recent attack would educate others on the Sikh faith. But this distinction that arose, that Sikhs were mistaken as Muslims, made me even angrier. Rather than focusing on what Sikhism was, they were focusing on what it wasnt; throwing a whole other community that has had its share of ignorant definitions under the bus with it. This turban primer did not make me feel much better. At first I thought it was satire, but then realized this was a serious attempt to communicate the differences between huge groups that shouldnt be even considered in the same category. There was a mosque in Joplin, Missouri, that had been set fire to for the second time in a month that received little to no coverage in major news networks. Friends had been emailing, tweeting, and posting statuses that further fueled my fire. With this anger, confusion, and general annoyance at the media, I attended a candlelight vigil on Wednesday after work. United Against Hate was a vigil hosted by various Sikh groups in the DC area held at Lafayette Park in front of the White House. While expecting to hear stories of anger and blame towards the media, much like the articles that had been circulating on social media sites in the last few days, I was surprised at its peaceful and welcoming nature. In fact, my friends and I had barely set foot into the park before we were offered homemade Indian food. We politely declined at first, but then they explained that this was common in any Gurudwara: the langar, a meal served every Sunday after worship services, was a homemade meal served to the entire community whether they were Sikh or not. In fact, preparations for the langar were what Page had stormed in and starting shooting upon. Throughout the vigil, the Sikh community kept stressing the importance of the langar, and how they aimed to finish what the Oak Creek community couldnt at the time- to serve the langar. The entire vigil was aimed at bringing the community together, educating about the Sikh faith, and serving the langar. I learned more about the Sikh community in that one

hour than I had in reading those articles and blog posts that were circulated on social media. It reminded me that anger from behind a computer monitor is okay in getting started, but to be truly educated about the community we live in, nothing beats face-to-face interaction. The speakers at the vigil were of all ages yet their message was the same: this ignorant hate is not a cause for anger, but an opportunity to build our community. They even mentioned the burning of the Joplin mosque and said they stood together with their Muslim brothers and sisters. While eating my delicious roti with vegetables wrap, I realized that this case of mistaken identity that I had taken so personally earlier was indeed a serious one, but one that had a better chance of being solved by getting out of cyberspace and into the real world. A major problem on reporting of these crimes is they are taken down as Islamic Hate Crimes. The petition below asks the FBI to make a distinction between Islamic Hate Crimes and those against the Sikh community. This is the first step in deterring further crimes against this community. The petition is here: http://www.ipetitions.com/widget/view/456820"