Model minority privilege and brown silence: Sikh Americans and the Black Lives Matter movement

ABSTRACT As the nation was in flames following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, Sikhs across the nation stood with people of color in “the largest movement in U.S. history” to advocate for Black Lives Matter. Yet, Sikhs' relationship with law enforcement is much more complicated. This paper navigates through the complexity of Sikhs' relationship with law enforcement and the Black Lives Matter movement by using historical methods before discussing how religion influenced Sikh Americans to stand in solidarity against anti-Black racism.