Recent acts of vandalism against a Sikh house of worship in south Charlotte are the latest examples of hostility toward faith groups that have taken place for thousands of years, according to leaders from Sikh, Muslim and Jewish communities.
Studies indicate that acts of violence and harassment against faith groups are increasing, and no religious organization is immune.
At a Jan. 26 discussion of antisemitism in Charlotte, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker advised communities of all faiths to strengthen their security measures. One year ago, Cytron-Walker fought off a gunman holding him and three others hostage at a synagogue in Texas. He is now a rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem and a security adviser for the Anti-Defamation League.
Hostility toward faith groups has an impact on the behavior of members of congregations, said Jaspal Singh, a member of the Gurdwara Sahib Khalsa Darbar on Arrowood Road in south Charlotte. In recent months at the gurdwara, security cameras have been damaged, windows broken and trash thrown nearby. The gurdwara is a place of worship for Charlotte’s growing Sikh community.
“That’s been going on for centuries,” Singh said. “People feel very stoic about their faith and their religion, and they use religion for political gain or other sorts of purposes.
“There are people who, for various reasons, feel threatened by others,” Singh said. “That’s been a universal issue around the globe. People feel that the ‘other’ is something to be feared. That plays itself into all kinds of aspects of immigration. And I think that the third thing that’s happened is a sort of culture of unkindness that is increasing, and I think is palpable now.”
After 9/11, he said, Sikhs were often stereotyped as terrorists. Sikh men sometimes stopped wearing turbans, an element of their religion, because the visibility of the headwear made them targets for hostility. This discrimination continues, Singh said.
“We’ve been subjected to a lot of bias and harassment over the course of our entire lives. Many of us have become numb to it, because we are still suffering from it,” Singh said.
What helps is the support of the community, Singh said. “We are stronger together, better together and resilient together. We’ve been through this kind of thing before and we have survived — and oftentimes despite lots of challenges — thrived.”
Much like turbans make Sikhs more visible as targets of hostility, the traditional Islamic hijab head covering does the same for Muslim women. In a Feb. 11 panel discussion of Islamophobia at Queens University of Charlotte, Hadia Mubarak, a professor of religion, cited studies indicating that Muslim women are far more likely than Muslim men to be discriminated against.
Media frequently depict the clothing of Muslim women as being a function of force or coercion, Mubarak said, while characterizing the clothing of Western women as a function of freedom and agency.
“When I wore my hijab for the first time, I was proud,” said Ayah Zoabi, president of the Muslim Student Association at Queens. “But I was also terrified hearing the other stories of girls who experienced discrimination because of their dress . ... I’ve never taken my hijab for granted. It’s something that makes me stronger, and all the Islamophobia things that I’ve been through. It’s worth it.”
During the Feb. 11 discussion, Khaled Beydoun, a law professor at Wayne State University and scholar-in-residence at the Beckman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, said Islamophobia is not exceptional in character. A careful study of American history indicates many parallels between Islamophobia and antisemitism, he said.
“There are parallels with the ways in which Catholic people have been persecuted in this country,” Beydoun said. “There are parallels with the ways in which Black people have been persecuted. We can draw a lot of instructive education from the experiences of other people.”
A 2021 survey on antisemitismby the Anti-Defamation League indicated 63% of Jewish Americans experienced or witnessed antisemitic incidents; 25% were targeted personally by comments, slurs or threats; and 9% were physically attacked because they were Jewish. Incidents of antisemitism have risen in the United States since then.
College campuses are no exception. In April 2022 at Queens University of Charlotte, a first-year student, Athena Strickland, was among Jewish students targeted in a antisemitic hate crime. Students found swastikas drawn on the doors of their residence hall rooms. A few days later, Strickland spoke out against hate at a vigil held on campus, and continues to encourage others to do the same.
“We were not going to let something like this go unnoticed,” Strickland said recently. “Being silent on antisemitism is giving the person who left swastikas on our doors what they want. If we show that we are proud to be Jewish and actively work to fight against antisemitism, we show antisemites that we do not back down easily and that we are here to stay.”
Are there solutions?
To combat religious discrimination, said Beydoun and Mubarak, people need to attend informational events that accurately educate them about religious traditions. Singh said the Sikh gurdwara in south Charlotte welcomes visitors interested in learning about other faiths and offers sessions in prayer, interfaith dialogues and meditation programs.
Mubarak said people must stand up against any tropes, stereotypes or forms of discrimination — even if they’re in the form of jokes. And all people need to be aware of their own cognitive biases, she said.
“We want to stand up against bigotry and discrimination against all people, anyone who is feeling marginalized or targeted because of who they are, because of their identity. ... And we need to be self-aware that we’re not contributing in any way, shape, or form to racism.
“Always be a witness, not a bystander,” Mubarak said. “We need to be courageous to say something when we see it.”
Palmer Magri, Lara Boyle and Simone Feast are students at Queens University of Charlotte, which provides the news service in support of community news.