Personal Reflection On The Article "Testimony" By Singh S.
The article that I will be providing a reflective response is Singh, S. (2017) “Testimony”. This original article was published on September 11, 2011 in the Asian American Literary Review, entitled “Healing the trauma of post - 9/11 racism one story (and melody) at a time’. This article is a firsthand description of the racism towards a young Sikh man who continuously endured opposition decades after the original events of September 11, 2001. Mr. Singh described how he was extremely mistreated, belittled, harassed on almost a daily basis, not just from strangers in the community but by people who are supposed to protect and serve, the Police.
The significance of this article is multifaceted. It describes how people of the Muslim faith continue to be terribly mistreated a decade after the tragic events of the terrorist attacks against America. How continuous oppression against an individual or group of people has devastating effects on them. The clear way that the author describes how he is facing the effects of racism and how he is trying to bring awareness to others and strive to show it’s possible to change you racist, discriminatory, bigoted views.
He articulated how as he was riding the NYC subway and his turban (dastar) was ripped off his head by a racist stranger, which he had suffered previously when he was in elementary school. The devastation that he described was all too familiar to me and it touched me deep within my soul. This article hit me personally because I can identify with many of the vicious treatment he suffered in the hands of truly racist people. I appreciated how he explained that writing was cathartic for him in moving forward and remaining hopeful despite the trauma of oppression. He decided to take the oppression he has endured and uses it to teach others about the damage racism, bigotry and prejudice causes. He focused on what he can do to discuss oppression and how people can change.
I appreciated the Sikh saying he described as, “chardi kala- a spirit of revolutionary eternal optimism.” I live my life in New York comfortable and privileged in many regards. I worked at a job for decades and earned enough to purchase a house and raise my children. We lived in a good neighborhood where my children attended good schools and are now successful. I have grandchildren that are growing up in a nice neighborhood and I can be a part of their lives and help them. That has not always been the case in my life.
Writing about this is topic is difficult. When I listen or read another’s life experience, I try to walk a mile in other people’s shoes. While walking in their shoes I must be willing to embrace the experience in its totality, but it’s not as simple as that sounds. No matter how much we try we really can’t experience it wholeheartedly, until you can walk in another’s shoes while you’re both wearing them. As I describe my own personal experiences in written form, his anguish and pain became vivid and real. When I first read the article that his turban was ripped from his head and flung to the floor. I thought it was terrible and felt sadness for him, but it wasn’t visceral until I started writing about my own experience of oppression.
It started for me long before September 11, 2001, when I was a youth. I was attending a school in a rich white neighborhood in the Bronx. I was ignored and hatred because of the color of my skin. Teachers refused to teach, guidance counselors refused to counsel, and my family life was non-existent. I would sob in the stairwells of the school because no one wanted to help me, no one cared for me. I finally gave up in my junior year and I dropped out of High school. I remember that moment as if it was yesterday and not 42 years ago. I still feel the anguish in my soul as I walked out of that school forever. I knew that it was the biggest mistake of my life.
The trauma from the rejection, mistreatment from bigots was devastating to the soul. I didn’t give up but had to claw my way out of the ghetto. I finally had an opportunity to do better in my life. I applied and got accepted in to the New York Police Department and while I was in the Police Academy there were very few women and only one other Hispanic female in my company. I was punched in the chest, I was punched in the stomach and I choked until almost unconscious by three separate white men.
I knew that if I complained I would be targeted to try to get me fired and I had to endure some terrible racist and sexist abuse. I thought after all these decades, that I no longer had sorrow from those memories or experiences, but I guess I still do. I suffered in silenced, but I finally fought back, and I learned not to be afraid, not be silent and invisible. I spent 21 years giving back to the community that I came from and now better than bad memories overflow in my life.
These experiences in my life, I believe will help me become a better social worker. I want to be part of the motivation to end racism. I believe that helping people understand discrimination, the passive or aggressive role they play in it. This awareness of our roles in discrimination or racism along with the knowledge that change can be accomplished will motivate others to step up and have the “six” (military code for back) of all people of color. I will always look at the entire person in the environment. Willing to include the micro, mezzo and macro practice as a multi-layer to understanding the roots of racism, prejudice, bigotry and discrimination.
I would like to focus on bringing understanding, knowledge and willingness to the individual, community and legislature. I am starting this endeavor with writing a letter to my elementary school in Harlem which I attended over 50 years ago. The teachers and administrators of my elementary school, I believe were ahead of its time in the 1960’s. They focused on binding the cords of all humanity with love and respect no matter the culture, ethnicity or race.
References:
- Singh, S. (2017). Testimony. In P.S. Rothenberg, (Ed.), Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study (10th ed., pp. 322-324). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
