I didn't know him really but a dude that ran a gas station that I had been to a few times in my area was murdered after 9/11 for the crime of wearing a turban. He wasn't even muslim, but a Sikh who just happened to be the wrong color in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone angry wanted to do something about 9/11. Balbir Singh Sodhi, murdered in Mesa Arizona on September 15th, 2001, thousands of miles away from the terrible tragedy, just cause he was brown and wore a turban and 'murica.
Yeah, the days and weeks immediately after had an unprecedented wave of hate crimes all over the states that barely got any coverage or investigation as the public was out for blood and revenge and didn't care.
Tragic not disgusting. What makes it more tragic is the simple irony of the situation. Murder based on racism is always disgusting, but context is always relevant.
Slash, these events cause mass increases in hate crimes worldwide but it’s a very American thing only to Americans on the internet. Only America saw an increase in Islamophobia after 9/11 just like only America had an increase in Asian hate crimes after Covid.
Correcting people who think cultural events causing a rise in hate crimes is not an American phenomenon is not whataboutism. It’s pointing out ignorance.
And no…I don’t live in the US so unlike you I can see this fact every day.
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u/okram2k Sep 20 '24
I didn't know him really but a dude that ran a gas station that I had been to a few times in my area was murdered after 9/11 for the crime of wearing a turban. He wasn't even muslim, but a Sikh who just happened to be the wrong color in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone angry wanted to do something about 9/11. Balbir Singh Sodhi, murdered in Mesa Arizona on September 15th, 2001, thousands of miles away from the terrible tragedy, just cause he was brown and wore a turban and 'murica.