California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 37

Introduced by Assembly Member Gray

February 27, 2015

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 37—Relative to Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 37, as introduced, Gray. Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

This measure would designate November 2015 as California Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month. The measure would recognize and acknowledge the significant contributions Californians of Sikh heritage have made to the state. The measure would also seek to afford all Californians the opportunity to understand, recognize, and appreciate the rich history and shared principles of Sikh Americans.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, California and our nation are at once blessed and
enriched by the unparalleled diversity of our residents; and

WHEREAS, The Sikhs, who originated in Punjab, India, first
entered California in 1899 legally through the Angel Island
Immigration Station in San Francisco, California; and

WHEREAS, The Sikh pioneers initially worked on railroad
construction projects, and in lumber mills; and

WHEREAS, By 1910, these pioneers turned to farming in the
Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Imperial valleys; and

WHEREAS, On October 14, 1912, the first Sikh temple
(Gurdwara) in the United States, the Sikh Temple Stockton, was
founded by Professor Teja Singh of the Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan
Society; and

WHEREAS, There are now more than 100 Gurdwaras in the
United States; and

WHEREAS, The Stockton Record, dated November 22, 1915,
quoted the Gurdwara’s elected leadership declaring, “We do not
permit our people to become charges on public charity”; and

WHEREAS, Legislation to authorize Sikhs and other East Indian
immigrants to naturalize as United States citizens was not enacted
until 1946; and

WHEREAS, On January 1, 1912, Jawala Singh and Wasakha
Singh, who immigrated to California through Angel Island in 1908
and served as the founding Granthis of the Sikh Temple Stockton,
recognized the value of education, and started six Sri Guru Govind
Singh Educational Scholarships at the University of California,
Berkeley; and

WHEREAS, These scholarships were awarded without regard
to ethnicity or religion and the first awardees included three
Hindus, one Christian, one Sikh, and one Muslim; and

WHEREAS, Board and lodging was provided at the students’
home at 1731 Allston Way, Berkeley, where smoking and drinking
were prohibited; and

WHEREAS, On November 1, 1913, Ghadar, the first
Punjabi-language newspaper in the United States, was published
by Kartar Singh Sarabha, who was then 17 years of age, with
financial support from the Stockton Gurdwara; and

WHEREAS, On December 31, 1913, Jawala Singh and Wasakha
Singh organized the Ghadri Conclave in Sacramento to form the
Ghadar Party to overthrow the British colonial rulers of the Indian
subcontinent; and

WHEREAS, The Ghadar Party sent 616 of its members to India,
of whom 86 percent were Sikhs; and

WHEREAS, Homage is paid to them annually at a dozen
different gatherings (Melas) from Sacramento, California, to
Bakersfield, California; and

WHEREAS, The Sikh history and culture is represented in the
Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, in the Smithsonian Museum
in Washington, D.C., in the Community Memorial Museum of
Sutter County, and the Museum at the Sikh Temple Stockton; and

WHEREAS, Sikh farmers contribute abundantly towards
production of peaches (Didar Singh Bains), raisins (Charanjeet
Singh Batth), pistachios (Mangar family), and okra and other
vegetables (Harbhajan S. Samra); and

WHEREAS, Sikhs have also excelled in security services (Akal
Security) and transportation services, and as doctors, attorneys,
engineers, teachers, and other notable capacities, and as small
business owners; and

WHEREAS, Dalip Singh Saund, a Sikh who was born in Punjab,
India, and earned a Ph.D. from the University of California,
Berkeley in 1924, initially worked as a foreman of cotton pickers
in the Imperial Valley, and later became a farmer, played a major
role in raising the funds needed to lobby for the Luce-Celler Act
of 1946 that enabled him and others to naturalize as citizens, and
served as an elected judge in the Westmoreland Judicial District
from 1952 to 1956, before becoming the first Asian American
elected to the United States Congress, wherein he served three
terms from 1957 to 1963; and

WHEREAS, Sikh Americans have served as mayors of many
California cities, including, for example David Dhillon in El
Centro, Gurpal Samra in Livingston, Amarpreet “Ruby” Dhaliwal
in San Joaquin, Sonny Dhaliwal in Lathrop, and Kashmir Singh
Gill in Yuba City. Numerous Sikh Americans have served as
council members of California cities; and

WHEREAS, Bhagat Singh Thind, a Sikh born in Punjab, India,
who was a United States veteran of World War I, who campaigned
actively for the independence of India from the British Rule, and
who supported Indian students and lectured on metaphysics
throughout the United States, has been honored by the Fred
Korematsu Institute as a “Race in the Courts Hero” for fighting
his citizenship case in the United States Supreme Court in 1923;
and

WHEREAS, Sikhs have served in all American wars since
World War I; and

WHEREAS, Narinder Singh Kapany of Palo Alto, a Sikh born
in Punjab, India, is an accomplished scientist and inventor, who
has been awarded over 100 patents that spurred advances in lasers,
biomedical instrumentation, pollution monitoring, and solar energy,
and is widely acknowledged to be the father of fiber optics, a
technology that has allowed for high-speed digital communication;
and

WHEREAS, Yuba City, often called “Mini-Punjab” because of
its 10 percent Punjabi population, commemorates the inauguration
of the holy Sikh scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, on the first
Sunday of November, rain or shine, and this international event
has in recent years attracted up to 100,000 participants from all
over the United States, Canada, and even abroad; and

WHEREAS, Sikh Americans throughout California celebrate
the coronation of Sikh scripture and other Sikh festivals at the
Gurdwaras and through parades in cities across California and the
United States; and

WHEREAS, Various Sikh organizations, including the Sikh
Council of Central California, the Sikh Coalition, the Sikh
American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikhs United,
Jakara, and individual Gurdwaras participate in interfaith meetings,
seminars, conferences, meetings, and functions and share the tenets
of their monotheistic religion that respects other religions and
welcome all to their Gurdwaras, and try to promote mutual
understanding and respect among all peoples; and

WHEREAS, The Sikh American community continues to make
significant contributions to the California and United States
economies and societies through military service, as business
owners, transportation professionals, doctors, attorneys, engineers,
teachers, farmers, and in a great many other notable capacities;
and

WHEREAS, Since September 11, 2001, the Sikhs are often
mistaken for terrorists of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaida owing to
the commonality of beard and the turban, and subjected to a
disproportionately high rate of hate crimes, and Sikh boys suffer
bullying at twice the national bullying rate for other boys; and

WHEREAS, The Sikh American community continues to
peacefully overcome attacks on its identity and practices, whether
in the form of school harassment, employment discrimination, or
fatal shootings, including the murders of six Sikhs during the Oak
Creek Wisconsin Sikh Gurdwara shooting on August 5, 2012, as
well as the senseless murders of Surinder Singh and Gurmej Atwal
in Elk Grove, California, on March 4, 2011; and

WHEREAS, The faithful service of the Sikh American
community to this state and country merits appreciation as an
integral thread in the fabric of American plurality; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
month of November 2015 to be California’s Sikh American
Awareness and Appreciation Month; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes and acknowledges
the significant contributions made by Californians of Sikh heritage
to our state, and by adoption of this resolution, seeks to afford all
Californians the opportunity to better understand, recognize, and
appreciate the rich history and shared principles of Sikh Americans;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution to the
Members of the Legislature, to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction for the purpose of advising county and district
superintendents and charter school administrators, to members of
the California Sikh American community, and to other interested
organizations or persons.