In 1812, Napoleon attempted to invade Russia, but failed due to the harsh winter. Over 100 hundred years later, Hitler attempted to invade Russia again during the winter, illustrating how history tends to repeat itself. When pointing to the Holocaust, a commonly held belief is the Holocaust will never repeat itself, however, certain aspects of the Holocaust continue to repeat over human history. In the United States after 9/11, racial targeting, profiling, and discrimination turned toward people of brown skin color. A group targeted due to their appearance were Sikh Indians. Sikh Indians wear turbans to cover their hair due to religious reasons and after 9/11, Sikhs such as myself were called “terrorist” by American citizens. Compared to the
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Growing up as an Indian-American with a turban, I experienced bullying at school and called a terrorist for no other reason than wearing a turban. Eventually, I cut off our turbans and have not encountered any discrimination since for being Sikh American. Though there were no instances of violence, the premise of discrimination occurred in schools as well as outside in everyday society. At such a young age, I was subject to discrimination just as Jewish individuals were during the Holocaust. When I was so young I was unaware of what was happening because my parents sheltered me from the discrimination. They never told me certain people labeled us Sikhs as terrorists and I am grateful for being sheltered. I was able to continue my life without making changes to how I acted or what activities I participated in. Had I not cut my hair at age 6, I could have encountered more discrimination influencing me in some capacity. Jewish youngsters during the Holocaust had not shelter from the harsh reality, causing them to mature rapidly and lose out on their childhood. For example, Anne Frank who was only 13, stated in her diary that “I feel wicked sleeping in a warm bed, while somewhere out there my dearest friends are dropping from exhaustion or being knocked to the ground.” Someone who is thirteen should not think about their friends being hurt and injured and for feeling lucky for being able to go into
Growing up as an Indian-American with a turban, I experienced bullying at school and called a terrorist for no other reason than wearing a turban. Eventually, I cut off our turbans and have not encountered any discrimination since for being Sikh American. Though there were no instances of violence, the premise of discrimination occurred in schools as well as outside in everyday society. At such a young age, I was subject to discrimination just as Jewish individuals were during the Holocaust. When I was so young I was unaware of what was happening because my parents sheltered me from the discrimination. They never told me certain people labeled us Sikhs as terrorists and I am grateful for being sheltered. I was able to continue my life without making changes to how I acted or what activities I participated in. Had I not cut my hair at age 6, I could have encountered more discrimination influencing me in some capacity. Jewish youngsters during the Holocaust had not shelter from the harsh reality, causing them to mature rapidly and lose out on their childhood. For example, Anne Frank who was only 13, stated in her diary that “I feel wicked sleeping in a warm bed, while somewhere out there my dearest friends are dropping from exhaustion or being knocked to the ground.” Someone who is thirteen should not think about their friends being hurt and injured and for feeling lucky for being able to go into