Mail letters to Letters, Santa Fe Reporter, PO Box 2306, Santa Fe NM 87504, deliver them to 132 E. Marcy St., fax them to 988-5348, e-mail them to editor@sfreporter.com, or use our online form.
MISREPRESENTATION
***image1***Your cover image [Cover story, Nov. 19: "
"], shows an image that we assume is meant to be a radical Islamic fundamentalist, represented as a young man with a white turban and beard. This has proven to be an unfortunate and dangerous representation, because in the United States, with very few exceptions, only men who practice the Sikh religion wear both turbans and beards. These images, which were very prevalent after Sept. 11, 2001, have led to the harassment of thousands of Sikh-Americans, and to hundreds of Sikhs in America being attacked and beaten. One Sikh store owner in Phoenix was murdered a few days after 9.11 because of his appearance and several Sikh temples around the country vandalized or burned. We are certain that the Reporter knows that a large Sikh community is centered in Española, and that hundreds of Sikhs are a vital part of the Santa Fe and northern New Mexico communities. We hope that the Reporter will understand the risks inherent in publishing this image, and take measures to educate the public about Sikhs, their appearance and their commitment to practice and promote non-violence in America and around the world. This would go a long way toward preventing potentially serious misunderstandings and protecting Sikhs in our community from any violence or harassment that might result from this week's cover image and story.
Daya Singh Khalsa
Santa Cruz, NM
OBJECTION
I would like to object to the image you have used to convey what a terrorist looks like in the current issue of the Santa Fe Reporter. As you may know, there are many kinds of people in many different cultures and faiths that wear a turban or wrap. In our Santa Fe area, there is a large community of Sikhs who don the turban and may look like the image you have displayed and thus this community is put in danger and at risk for discrimination, misunderstanding and bad publicity. The Sikh community is a peace-loving community and we work hard in our daily lives to be examples of service, love and inspiration to all we meet regardless of their race, gender, creed or any other factor. We have lived in the Santa Fe area for 35 years and contribute to the culture and commerce of this area in a large way. I encourage you to counter the image that you have used with an equally placed article that educates your readers to who we are and perhaps to the many different kinds of turbans and wraps there are in the world. We most heartily welcome you to visit our community and to dialogue with us. Please let me know if you are interested so I can arrange a meeting and tour.
To a Sikh, the turban is a crown and we treat it with great respect. To the Africans, the wrap it is a symbol of beauty and pride in their culture. The ancient Jews wore turbans as did the Hindus and many other cultures.
I also want to point out that the face (or hat) of a terrorist is not so easily recognizable as you would like to portray-what about Timothy McVeigh and Hitler and Idi Amin?
Gurufateh Kaur
Santa Fe
DUE DILIGENCE
I must say it is quite disheartening to see the type of carelessness displayed by what one would normally consider a friendly, community-oriented publication, the Santa Fe Reporter. Instead, this week we see a careless and thoughtless gesture in your publication toward a group that does so much for the community and nation. Due to your carelessness, we, the Sikh community, are now potentially threatened by your careless portrayal of our community. Instead, perhaps you should take a look at all of the community and hospice-type functions we perform, not to mention sponsorship of International Peace Prayer Day conducted annually, bringing diplomats from worldwide to our beloved New Mexico every June. I hope you are able to undo this wrong and perform due diligence in getting to know and understand what Sikh Dharma truly represents.
Seva Singh
Española
SHOCK AND SADNESS
The Interfaith Alliance of Northern New Mexico writes to you to express our shock and sadness at the cover picture used as a lead to your story about terrorism in Iraq. Our Alliance represents people of many faiths from Santa Fe and the northern New Mexico area-including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists, and other faiths who come together in peace to learn about each other's faith and share spiritual practices.
You have depicted on your cover a man wearing a turban such as Sikh men wear in our community and world-wide. Beyond that turbans are worn by Muslim men, Hindu men, people from Africa and the Caribbean and others from many countries. To link Sikhs with terrorism is outrageous. The Sikh religion is a religion of understanding, love and peace. And to further imply that anyone who wears a turban may be linked to terrorism is equally outrageous and dangerous. And what are the bees? Are you also making fun of people who wear turbans?
Your choice of cover has done tremendous disservice and dishonor to the Sikhs and all others who may wear turbans and who live, work, play and worship in peace in our community.
We ask you to remove any remaining copies of this week's Reporter from newsstands and to print an apology. We would also ask that you do a series of articles on the faith communities of Santa Fe and northern New Mexico that demonstrate how vibrant religious pluralism is in our area-as a wonderful example to the rest of our state, the nation and world!
Lydia Pendley, St. Bede's Episcopal Church
Consuelo Luz, HaMakom Community
Mustafa Stefan Dill
Sandra Hareld, Santa Maria de la Paz Catholic Community
Maboud Swierkosz, Dances of Universal Peace
Robert and Ernestine Lawrence, St. Bede's Episcopal Church
Mary Marshall, United Church of Santa Fe
The Rev. Richard W. Murphy, St. Bede's Episcopal Church
Corazon Halasan
Har Pal Singh Khalsa
Rabia and Benyamin Van Hattum
Nancy Loper, United Church of Santa Fe
HaMakom Community
Sarb Nam Kaur Khalsa, Sikh Dharma of New Mexico
EDITOR'S NOTE:
SFR received numerous letters and calls of a similar ilk to those printed this week regarding last week's cover art. The illustration was based on the opening quote of the story about questionable US military detention of Iraqis in Iraq: "...The rules of war are to know the enemy and we don't know even one. We keep thinking we'll get them by taking a sledgehammer to the beehive."
Freelance illustrator Jon Krause has asked to have the following statement printed on his behalf: "I did not intend to represent a Sikh on the cover at all. The concept behind the painting was for the turban to have a dual role as a beehive, thus the shape of it. I did not use any reference to paint the figure other than a picture of a beehive. The figure on the front was not supposed to represent a terrorist at all, but rather an innocent man angered by wrongful detainment. I was completely ignorant of the fact that the figure I painted could be construed so specifically. Many of you e-mailed me respectfully and educated me on the Sikh turban and I thank you for that. Again, I offer my most sincere apologies."
The Reporter welcomes original, signed letters to the editor. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. They may be edited for clarity and space. Please include address and phone number for verification purposes; these will not be published.
