INTERFAITH ALLIANCE STATE OF BELIEF RADIO APRIL 27, 2013 RUSH TRANSCRIPT: Valarie Kaur Click here for

video Click here for audio [REV. DR. C. WELTON GADDY, HOST]: Valarie Kaur is a prominent SikhAmerican interfaith activist, writer, and an award-winning filmmaker. Shes the founding director of Groundswell at Auburn Theological Seminary - we've talked about that before - and Im very happy to have Valarie Kaur join me right now on State of Belief Radio. Valarie, welcome! [VALARIE KAUR, GUEST]: Thank you so much. [WG]: In your recent Washington Post article titled For Sikhs and Muslims, Fear After A Terror Attack, you make some very powerful points. I see you saying the fear starts after the suspects were identified as Muslims, am I getting that right? [VK]: Well I would say the fear even began when the explosions went off. [WG]: And explain that. [VK]: So I experienced the bombing as a crisis in two different ways. Let me say, like all Americans, I was grieving with Boston, a city I had called home for three years; I was north of Boston when the explosions went off. I had friends and family in lockdown by the end of the week. And so like the whole nation I was breathing a sigh of relief when the second suspect was captured, but like millions of Americans from Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian backgrounds, I was waiting, hoping and praying, the minute we heard about the news, that we would not see the same hate, fear and violence we saw after 9/11. You know, Balbir Singh Sodhi was a family friend, a turban-wearing SikhAmerican man who was murdered in the thousands of hate crimes that erupted across the country in the week of 9/11. So there was reason to be afraid. And already, we have seen echoes of the aftermath of that week; already we have seen racial profiling of people for the color of their skin, we've seen retaliatory hate crimes, we've seen public officials calling for counter-terrorism measures that single our Muslim and immigrant communities. But I will tell you, Reverend, that when I look back on the last two weeks, I do believe that we are not the same nation we were in 2001. I do believe that our national leaders, starting with President Obama, that called for a commitment to stay true to our dignity and diversity, not to rush to judgement of entire groups, and many voices have

followed his lead, I remember I was so moved when Governor Deval Patrick said, "We will recover and heal if we turn to each other, rather than on each other." So I'm really hanging on to that hope in the coming weeks. [WG]: You know, Valarie, I made the comment this morning in another setting, that I think even in the media, though it wasn't consistently across the media, but I thought the media, in the early days after the bombing, and on the day of the bombing, really tried to do a very responsible job of not stereotyping at that point, and I saw that as a giant step forward. [VK]: I did as well. I was really moved to see how many leading voices in the media, and in the government, really followed the commitment to not rush to judgement. I believe that a new generation has really come of age in the last 12 years: millennials who have far less tolerance for overt acts of racism and bigotry - and that's true across the country. I remember when Fox News commentator Eric Rush, on the afternoon of the bombings, tweeted that "Muslims are evil, let's kill them all." There were many more voices online and otherwise that rose to challenge him, issuing statements of solidarity and unity. And so that also gives me quite a bit of hope. [WG]: I want to be sure that our audience knows the perspective from which you speak. You've alluded to it briefly, that after 9/11 you lost a dear friend due to misidentification and misunderstanding; but since 9/11, you have a uniquely longrange view on this whole subject. And I'd like you, if you will, to talk a little bit about what you did after 9/11 that gives you such credibility and authority to talk about what needs to be done now. [VK]: I was a 20-year-old college student when September 11th happened, and after Balbir Singh Sodhi, the family friend, was murdered I felt so helpless that I needed to do something - I mean, unlike the last two weeks, in the aftermath of 9/11 the hate crimes that were breaking out across the country were not being reported on national news. They were like desperate cries buried under this anthem of national unity. And so, as a college student from a Sikh-American background - you know, my family has lived in the United States for 100 years; my grandfather sailed by steamship from India to California in 1913 - and 100 years of history, when 9/11 happened, people who looked like my grandfather, my brothers, my cousins, were automatically marked as suspicious, as foreign, as potentially terrorists, mostly because of the turbans and beards that the men in our family wear, and our communities wear. And so, as soon as that murder happened, I grabbed my camera, got in my car, and crossed the country to make a film called "Divided We Fall," which became the first feature-length film on hate crimes after 9/11. And that led to a decade of activism and advocacy, trying to combat incidents of racial profiling and hate crimes. Most recently, last August in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a white supremacist walked into a Sikh gurdwara and opened fire, murdering six Sikh-Americans in what is now the largest race-based mass shooting in recent US history. This has been part of a rising trend of hate

crimes against these communities, and so we had every reason - I had every reason - to brace and wait and prepare in the aftermath of the Boston bombings. [WG]: You, in your article, identify several hate-based incidents that have happened just in the past few days. We've both already shown our hand in thinking we've made progress; but remind us of what you've seen of expressions of hate just since the bombing. [VK]: On Monday afternoon, before a suspect was even identified, one man in the Bronx was beaten by a group of men who called him an Arab. On Wednesday, a Palestinian woman in Massachusetts was punched by a man who was screaming, "You are a terrorist! You were involved in the Boston explosions!" Those violent hate crimes are two of a number of incidents we've heard across the country of Muslim, Arab, Sikh-Americans who are afraid to go outside, who have been moving with caution, who have been preparing their gurdwaras and mosques for any possible retaliation. All of that said, this is nowhere near the violence we saw in the aftermath of 9/11, so I believe that the greatest danger for America was not in the streets, but in what our nation decides to do as a country in the weeks ahead. Already Rep. Peter King has demanded heightened surveillance of Muslims; senators like Chuck Grassley has suggested that we should reconsider immigration reform, as if these attacks now mark all immigrants as automatically suspect and potentially terrorists; Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain have already implied that we ought to curtail civil liberties by calling for the suspect, a US citizen, to be denied a defense attorney, labeled an enemy combatant, sent to Guantanamo. So these debates which lie ahead of us will really test us as Americans to see whether we'll go down the same road that we went down after 9/11, or whether a different future is possible, where we are not harming more people. [WG]: Valarie, I'd like to talk about your films for a minute, and identify if you can some of the insights working on those projects have given you in discerning how to talk about this present situation. [VK]: "Divided We Fall" is the film that took me across the country for most of my twenties. I traveled to more than 200 US cities, screened the film at universities and colleges, and what moved me - the insights that I gained in that experience was the way that young people, through story, could see themselves in other people's struggle. I remember in Chicago, an African-American man standing up and pointing to his braids, and saying, "My braids are my turban." I remember a gay man in New York standing up and saying, "I realize, just as I fight for the right of gays to come out of the closet, I realize I have to fight for the right of Sikhs to wear their turbans." And I remember a Japanese-American woman in Nebraska standing up, and saying "When my grandparents were in concentration camps during World War II, very few people stood up for them then. I will stand up for you now." Those gestures of solidarity made me realize that the Sikh-American struggle, the Muslim-American struggle, is bound up with the African-American,

Latino, Native, LGBT, Jewish - many other communities' struggles - that our struggles are part of a greater movement for equality and dignity in America. It is the old way of fighting that we fight for our own selves, our own issues, our own causes. That more an more we're realizing that we must stand together to make progress in this country. And I will say that, going back to what gives me hope, is that an entire multifaith movement for justice has risen out of the ashes of 9/11 the last twelve years; that we are networked; that we have access and social media tools to hold our public officials accountable, and combat hatred; that Muslim, Sikh and other community organizations have immediately used the infrastructure they built over the last decade to condemn the bombings, condemn hate violence... And part of an interfaith movement - Groundswell is one network of nearly 100,000 people across different faiths and backgrounds who are coming together just this week to organize, to hold our officials accountable, to help our nation stay united. And everyday people - everyday people can get involved in a way that you could not back in the days after 9/11. So if folks listening want to go to groundswell-movement.org, you can join us. [WG]: After listening to you, Valarie, it brings to mind something that I've said to a lot of colleagues in interreligious circles since 9/11, that I honestly think the Sikh community has done one of the best jobs of any of the world's religions in the United States in helping people understand the Sikh tradition, helping people to know something of the Sikh character. And I think you've done it exceedingly well. I saw it in a presentation on Capitol Hill with the Department of Transportation; I've seen it in some of the books that have been written; and I wonder - not in a paternalistic, but in a collegial sort of way - if you would say what is it that the Sikhs have done in identifying themselves that would be helpful to other religions - to Muslims, Buddhists - all other religions in identifying themselves so people feel like they know you and want to be supportive of you? [VK]: I believe that we must lead with stories; that stories can break down the walls dividing "us" and "them;" that stories can help us see ourselves in one another. I remember the last interview I did for "Divided We Fall" was in Punjab, India, where I interviewed Harjinder Kaur, the widow of Balbir Singh Sodhi. She was in tears when I found her, and I remember I had to put down my list of questions, because how could I ask this mourning widow anything? She was so heartbroken after the death of her husband, killed in hate in America. And I did ask her, "What would you like to tell the people of America?" And I was expecting bitterness or anger, but she said, "Thank you. Tell them, thank you. When I came to Phoenix for my husband's funeral, they came out in the thousands: Christian, Muslim, Jew - they cared for me, they gave me their love... Tell them thank you." And as I boarded the plane back for the US, I realized that the people of Phoenix came out in the thousands back in 2001 because the Sikh community had told the city their story. The Sikh community had told the story of Balbir Singh Sodhi, how he had come to the US to escape religious persecution, how he would never see the eyes of his grandchildren again, how his widow's heart was now broken that his story was what caused people to come out and break a cycle of violence

so that the widow herself could forgive. And it's the same stories that I saw the people of Oak Creek tell the American public after the massacre last August that caused us to receive love and support from all corners of the country. I remember I saw young people who had just seen their parents murdered inside a house of worship have the courage to to step in front of cameras, and not just talk about their heartbreak, but tell their stories as young Americans - as young Sikh-Americans who are drawing from their faith tradition to respond not with hate, not with vengeance, but with love. I think going forward, the more that all of us - communities of color, faith communities - can lead with stories and listen to one another's stories - the more we can see ourselves as part of one movement. [WG]: It's a beautiful statement. Tell us before we go, what kind of organizing are you doing now in the aftermath of the bombings and the arrests, and do you see any groups utilizing Groundswell yet in this regard? [VK]: We are in conversation with our partners, with out colleagues, with advocates across the country, listening closely to what is most needed. You will see action on Groundswell's platform in the next few days, so again, people can go to groundswell-movement.org to get involved. But I will say that I think that action is coming. And action is coming in ways that we have not seen before. I'll give you an example: the day after the bombings, I was with students at Colby College in Maine. I was asked to talk to these students about hate crimes since 9/11; I was asked to talk to them about the mass shooting in Oak Creek last fall. But when I walked into the classroom, these students were hurting. Many of them were from Boston, they had friends still in the hospital - one girl was a dancer with shrapnel in her leg, wondering if they were going to amputate - when I walked into that classroom these students - I was expecting them to express heartbreak, indignation, perhaps anger. But they turned around and they showed me their Twitter and Facebook feeds. They showed me the way that they were standing up against bigotry, and for unity and diversity. On the same day that one of the senators from Maine, Susan Collins, was openly speculating that Islamic extremism was responsible for the attacks, before we had any evidence at all, these young people knew better. And they were asking me, OK, what do we do now? We're here, we're networked, we're ready, how do we take action? Millions of young people, millions of people of all generations like them, are ready to act. And I know many people in the multifaith movement will be providing blueprints for action; Groundswell will be one of them. [WG]: Valarie Kaur is a prominent Sikh-American interfaith activist, writer and an award-winning filmmaker. She's the Founding Director of Groundswell at Auburn Theological Seminary, and she's written a most insightful piece for the Washington Post on the very real fears some of our fellow Americans are facing since the revelation that the Tsarnaev brothers identified as Muslim, "For Sikhs and Muslims, Fear After a Terror Attack." That's the headline. You need to read it, and we'll link to it from stateofbelief.com

Valarie, I really want to thank you for making the time to share your insights with us today. You'e done remarkable work, and it's paying off in the insights that you can share with all of us. Thanks for being with us here today on State of Belief Radio. [VK]: Thank you so much. It was my pleasure. State of Belief is based on the proposition that religion has a positive and healing role to play in the life of the nation. The show explains and explores that role by illustrating the vast diversity of beliefs in America the most religiously diverse country in the world while exposing and critiquing both the political manipulation of religion for partisan purposes and the religious manipulation of government for sectarian purposes. Each week, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy offers listeners critical analysis of the news of religion and politics, and seeks to provide listeners with an understanding and appreciation of religious liberty. Rev. Gaddy tackles politics with the firm belief that the best way to secure freedom for religion in America is to secure freedom from religion. State of Belief illustrates how the Religious Right is wrong wrong for America and bad for religion. Through interviews with celebrities and newsmakers and field reports from around the country, State of Belief explores the intersection of religion with politics, culture, media, and activism, and promotes diverse religious voices in a religiously pluralistic world. Author of more than 20 books, including First Freedom First: A Citizens Guide to Protecting Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy leads the national non-partisan grassroots and educational organization Interfaith Alliance and serves as Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, Louisiana. In addition to being a prolific writer, Dr. Gaddy hosts the weekly State of Belief radio program, where he explores the role of religion in the life of the nation by illustrating the vast diversity of beliefs in America, while exposing and critiquing both the political manipulation of religion for partisan purposes and the religious manipulation of government for sectarian purposes. Dr. Gaddy provides regular commentary to the national media on issues relating

to religion and politics. He has appeared on MSNBCs The Rachel Maddow Show and Hardball, NBCs Nightly News and Dateline, PBSs Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, C-SPANs Washington Journal, ABCs World News, and CNNs American Morning. Former host of Morally Speaking on NBC affiliate KTVE in Monroe, Louisiana, Dr. Gaddy is a regular contributor to mainstream and religious news outlets. While ministering to churches with a message of inclusion, Dr. Gaddy emerged as a leader among progressive and moderate Baptists. Among his many leadership roles, he is a past president of the Alliance of Baptists and has been a 20-year member of the Commission of Christian Ethics of the Baptist World Alliance. His past leadership roles include serving as a member of the General Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, President of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Chair of the Pastoral Leadership Commission of the Baptist World Alliance and member of the World Economic Forums Council of 100. Rev. Gaddy currently serves on the White House task force on the reform of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Prior to the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Dr. Gaddy served in many SBC leadership roles including as a member of the conventions Executive Committee from 1980-84 and Director of Christian Citizenship Development of the Christian Life Commission from 1973-77. Dr. Gaddy received his undergraduate degree from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee and his doctoral degree and divinity training from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.