June 4, 2010 (Washington, D.C.) — The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, calls on South Carolina Republican State Senator Jake Knotts to apologize, recognize, and acknowledge the divisive impact and hateful history of the term “raghead” which he used to describe both President Barack Obama and South Carolina State Senator and Gubernatorial candidate Nikky Haley. ”There is no place for comments like this is any situation, especially by political officials and public servants, and we are disappointed in Senator Knott,” said SALDEF Associate Executive Director Jasjit Singh. “Such divisive comments only serve to further weaken the diversity that has made our county so strong. Racial slurs are unacceptable no matter the supposed intent of humor. We call on Senator Knotts to offer a real apology for his divisive comments and recognize the hateful nature of term ‘raghead’.” Since the tragic events of 9/11, Sikh Americans and others have been the victims of discrimination, bias motivated attacks, and hate crimes because of their perceived ethnicity or religion. Terms such as “raghead” have been a common feature in these incidents of harassment. SALDEF is deeply concerned with comments like these that consistently try and categorize Sikh Americans, or anyone of Arab, Muslim or South Asian descent, as being un-American or having intentions to harm the country. Read More: SALDEF Letter to Sen. Knotts
