Hello!
My name is ______________________, and I am one of your neighbors residing
at______________________________. We want to take this opportunity to tell you
about ourselves and share some thoughts with you. You may have noticed me or
other members of my family since we are visibly different; you see, we are
Sikhs and are originally from India. Sikhism is one of the five largest
religions in the world and one of its key fundamentals is respect and love for
your fellow man. Additionally, as part of our faith, we do not cut our hair
and as such, we wear turbans.
As you all know, these are troubled times for our country. The recent events in New York and Washington DC have had a huge impact on all of us and the way we live our lives. There is a great amount of hurt and anger in all of us and we are searching for answers. As a result, there have been some incidents around the country where Sikhs have been mistaken as being Muslim (members of the Islamic faith) or have been thought of as being sympathizers with these extremist factions. Please understand, that we are appalled and are outraged by the terrible loss of life and share in the pain and hurt. We are no different than you. Like all of you, your parents and their parents before them, we too came from another land and have made this great nation our home. We cherish the Star Spangled Banner and believe in liberty, justice and the American way.
If we are going to make it through this terrible tragedy, we will do it together. Our family and the entire Sikh community in these United States stand with you….. Yes, we are Sikhs….. but we are also American Sikhs…. together, we will stand tall and be victorious.
God Bless America,
YOUR NAME