Wisconsin Shooting

Racism, a belief that race is the primary determinant of human characteristics and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, is what propelled a dishonored army veteran to vent his personal frustrations out on an ethnic minority in their place of worship. On August 5, 2011, a U.S. veteran named Wade Michael Page stormed a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and opened fire in one of the worst hate crimes committed on American soil. Thereafter, the gunman sustained fatal injuries during a gun battle with first responders on the scene. Of the six people who were killed, four of them were Sikh priests.

Incensed by this senseless massacre, the Hindu American Foundation, which was founded in 2003 by a group of Hindu Americans who were discontent with the political status of all Hindu Americans within the American diaspora, reacted with this:

Dharma traditions--the Hindus, Buddhists,  and Jains --hold non-violence (ahimsa) and peaceful co-existence as paramount values. It is a cruel irony that Sikhs, donning the turban as among proud symbols of a spiritual mandate to serve humanity as defenders of dharma against all onslaughts, find themselves sought out and victimized like this. We, at the Hindu American Foundation, join all Americans in shared shock, disbelief, and outrage over today’s tragic events that unfolded at the holy gurudwara, or Sikh temple, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin earlier today.

United States President Barack Obama, the first African-American to ever hold this office, cited this incident as an act of domestic terrorism. Broadcasted nationally, the President issued the following statement:

Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin. At this difficult time, the people of Oak Creek must know that the American people have them in our thoughts and prayers, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who were killed and wounded. My Administration will provide whatever support is necessary to the officials who are responding to this tragic shooting and moving forward with an investigation. As we mourn this loss which took place at a house of worship, we are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a part of our broader American family.