SALDEF expresses concern to Warner Bros about racist movie title Towelhead; receives commitment to increase Sikh presence in Hollywood Washington, DC—September 22, 2008: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, participated in a dialogue sponsored by Warner Brothers on September 9, 2008 in connection with Towelhead, a controversial film directed by Alan Ball and based on a novel by author Alicia Erian. The dialogue, which was taped and made available on the website of Warner Independent Pictures, featured Alan Ball, Alicia Erian, and Rajdeep Singh Jolly, Legal Director of SALDEF. While Ball and Erian defended the film title as an effort to draw attention to racism, SALDEF observed that Sikh Americans are often slurred as “towelheads” and expressed concern that the film title is a marketing ploy. “Calling a movie Towelhead is like calling a movie Nigger,” said Rajbir Singh Datta, National Director of SALDEF. “Warner Brothers clearly had no misgivings about using ‘towelhead’ as a movie title, but nobody has addressed whether they would use the word ‘nigger’ as a movie title. If they do, that would reflect poor judgment. If not, why the double standard?” During the dialogue, Mr. Jolly suggested that a more principled and proactive way for the film industry to combat racism would be to project the voices and perspectives of Sikh artists and other minority groups. Ball was receptive to this idea and expressed a willingness to work with the Sikh American community to achieve more parity in the film industry. “Exploiting the shock value of a racial slur for marketing purposes is crass and offensive,” said Kavneet Singh, Managing Director of SALDEF. “As noted in this dialogue, there are better ways to create mutual respect and understanding in American society, and we look forward to working with the film industry in pursuit of these goals.” SALDEF will continue to work with Warner Bros and other Hollywood studios to ensure that Sikhs are represented well in American pop culture. For more information on our activities in Hollywood, please contact SALDEF at mediarelations@saldef.org;
