Both bills are now in the Senate Committee on Appropriations and are expected to receive a hearing in mid-August.
The Sikh Coalition has also helped organize Sikh awareness and bullying prevention presentations in California schools, organized
Sikh awareness and hate crime trainings for law enforcement, led trainings on protecting houses of worship, helped place Sikh community members on city and county hate crimes task forces, and ensured that Sikhism is included as part of California’s Ethnic Studies curriculum. Following the release of our
updated Gurdwara Security Toolkit, the Sikh Coalition hosted a gurdwara security webinar focused on the California sangat, featuring representatives from the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the state government.
Last year, former Social Justice Fellow Winty Singh attended an oversight hearing at the California State Capitol in Sacramento about the tracking and reporting of hate crimes. He submitted public comment to the California State Legislature regarding the absence of California anti-Sikh hate crimes in the FBI database, and advocated for greater Sikh participation in police officer training and other task forces meant to address the growing trend of hate crimes.
Click here to watch his complete testimony. The Sikh Coalition also assisted with an
open house and interfaith solidarity event at Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara Sahib in Orangevale, CA. Hundreds of people–along with elected officials, faith and community leaders, and partner organizations–joined the Orangevale sangat on the heels of the discovery of
white nationalist graffiti on the gurdwara property in January of 2020.
These initiatives support the Sikh Coalition’s larger organizational efforts to combat bias, bigotry, bullying and backlash to better protect Sikhs across California. For questions about our work to combat hate in California, you can contact
advocacy@sikhcoalition.org.
As always, the Sikh Coalition encourages you to practice your faith fearlessly.