Sikhs in the United States
Sikhs are a religious community originating from Punjab, South Asia, founded by Guru Nanak Dev, who emphasized peace and the unity of God. The community developed a distinct identity, particularly through the establishment of the Khalsa by the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, which introduced significant symbols like the five Ks, including uncut hair worn under a turban. Sikhs began immigrating to the United States in the early 20th century, primarily seeking better opportunities and escaping persecution. Early Sikh migrants largely worked in agriculture and faced significant challenges, including discriminatory labor practices and restrictive immigration laws.
Despite a decrease in population during the 1930s, later immigration reforms in the 1940s and 1960s allowed for a new wave of Sikh immigrants, who often settled in suburban areas, contributing to a diverse and vibrant community. Estimates of the current Sikh population in the U.S. vary widely, with numbers ranging from around 200,000 to over 700,000, though many advocate that these figures do not fully reflect the true count due to how Sikhism is classified in census data. The Sikh community has also seen a small number of conversions from non-Punjabi individuals, leading to varied practices within the faith. In recent years, Sikhs have faced increased discrimination, particularly after the events of September 11, 2001, due to misunderstandings linking them with other religious and ethnic groups.
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Sikhs in the United States
The Sikhs are a religious community whose origins are in South Asia’s Punjab region. Their founder, Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539), advocated peace, a casteless society, the oneness of God, and the unifying of Hindus and Muslims. Vicious persecution contributed to this peaceful community being transformed into the Khalsa, a soldier-saint brotherhood who believed it was right to draw the sword for a just cause.
The Sikhs’ tenth and last Guru, Gobind Singh (1666–1708), instituted the five kakas (five Ks), the symbols Sikhs wear, uncut hair under a turban being the most noticeable. Throughout their history, Sikhs have been respected for their martial valor, innovativeness, adaptability to diverse situations, and migratory tradition. Sikh communities are found throughout the world.
The initial influx of Sikhs to the United States, from 1904 to 1923, consisted primarily of individuals who originated in rural Punjab and had agricultural backgrounds but were residing in Canada. They migrated south to escape being targets of violence and discrimination, as evidenced in the Komagata Maru incident. Some obtained employment in the lumber trade around Bellingham and Everett, Washington. In 1907, about one thousand Sikhs were expelled from the Pacific Northwest because local laborers believed they were depressing wages. The Sikhs and other Indians moved south to work on the farms in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Imperial Valleys in the summer and labored in the California cities of Yuba City, Stockton, and El Centro in the winter. Their numbers probably never exceeded six thousand. Newspapers talked about the “Hindoo invasion” and “turbaned tide.”
In 1918, the “Hindoo” conspiracy trials brought adverse publicity to the Sikh and Indian community of California. In 1913, the Ghadr (revolutionary) Party was formed and headquartered in San Francisco with the aim of gaining India’s independence from Britain. The defendants in the Hindoo case, active members of the Ghadr Party, were charged with violating US neutrality laws. Much of the evidence and impetus to prosecute came from British agents.
In 1923, immigration from India was effectively halted after the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, which classified East Indians of all kinds as Asian. Legislation prevented Asian people from owning land, becoming citizens, or bringing spouses to the United States. As a result, some Sikhs married Mexican women. The Ghadr Party remained active, but at a reduced level. During the 1930s, many Sikhs returned to India, and the population decreased to less than fifteen hundred. In 1946, the Luce-Celler Bill was passed, giving people of Asian Indian descent the right to become naturalized citizens and creating an immigration quota for India.
In 1965, immigration legislation ended the national origins quotas. Immigration to the United States was based on the candidate’s ability to meet a set of qualifications. In India, a cadre of highly educated doctors, engineers, and scientists was ready to take advantage of the new laws. The Sikhs who immigrated under the relaxed laws were generally more dispersed than previous generations, as they settled in affluent suburbs rather than urban enclaves. Sikhs gather in their local gurdwaras, or Sikh places of worship, which are part of the landscape of nearly every major city in North America. Because Sikhism is officially a religion rather than an ethnic group, and therefore not tracked by the Census Bureau, there is no definitive source for the number of Sikhs in the United States. In 2012, the Pew Research Center gave a conservative estimate of two hundred thousand American Sikhs, while as of 2015 the Sikh American Legal Defense Fund put the figure at seven hundred thousand. In the 2020, Sikh was included as a write-in option on the census and over forty-eight thousand people identified as Sikh alone while over seventy thousand identified as Sikh "alone or in any combination." However, the Sikh Coalition still argued that the number reported severely undercounts the number of Sikhs living in the country and continues to place estimates at five hundred thousand.
The United States has also seen a minor amount of conversion to Sikhism by individuals of non-Punjabi descent. Some of these converts as well as some later generations of East Indian–American Sikhs practiced a more liberal form of their religion, relaxing rules on traditional practices such as wearing a turban and following set gender roles. Sikhs in the United States faced an increase in discrimination after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, due largely to the general public's confusion between Sikhs, Arabs, and Muslims.
Bibliography
"About Sikh Americans." Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, saldef.org/about-sikh-americans/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
"FAQ." Sikh Coalition, 2012, www.sikhcoalition.org/about-sikhs/faq/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Hawley, Michael. Sikh Diaspora: Theory, Agency, and Experience. Boston: Brill, 2013. Print.
"How Many US Sikhs?" Pew Research Center, 6 Aug. 2012, www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/06/ask-the-expert-how-many-us-sikhs/#:~:text=Combining%20the%20Asian%20American%20survey,of%20adults%20to%20children%20among/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
“Updated Census Figures Severely Undercount U.S. Sikhs.” The Sikh Coalition, 28 Sept. 2023, www.sikhcoalition.org/blog/2023/updated-census-figures-severely-undercount-u-s-sikhs/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Wang, Frances Kai-Hwa. “Sikh Americans Push For Greater Visibility, Awareness Against Years of Hate Crimes, Misunderstanding.” PBS, 11 Oct. 2021, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/this-is-in-our-dna-how-sikh-americans-advocate-for-solidarity-while-campaigning-against-hate-crimes-prejudices. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.