A deadly crash, a divided nation: Why Sikh truckers are now in the crossfire [View all]

Members of California’s Sikh trucking community say a deadly crash involving one of its own, which triggered heated national debates over immigration, has led to a spike in anti-Sikh rhetoric.

On Aug. 12, Harjinder Singh, an India-born truck driver, made a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike that authorities say caused a crash that killed three people. The crash and subsequent investigations stirred arguments between Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

It also sparked online vitriol denigrating members of the monotheistic religion, who often covet high-paying trucking jobs that allow Sikh men to wear beards, uncut hair and turbans.

“There are a lot of negative comments online,” said Prahb Singh, a truck driver in Riverside, California, who isn’t related to the driver.

“People are saying: ‘Take the towel heads off the streets’ and ’Make our roads safe by taking immigrants off the street,” said Singh, a U.S. citizen who emigrated from India at age 8. “All of this before a judge gives a sentence.”

https://apnews.com/article/sikh-truck-drivers-rhetoric-fears-florida-crash-2b065c8a89b0d33d7718b45f7941e81d

One guy makes a tragic mistake and a whole community across the nation suffers? This is not the America I grew up in. Sikhs are some of the most peaceful and generous people I know.