From Here | Growing Up Sikh in America
Clip: Season 11 Episode 5 | 1m 9sVideo has Closed Captions
Sonny Singh shares how his childhood as both American and Sikh has impacted his identity.
Growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina was both an American and Sikh experience for Sonny Singh and his brother. He had a childhood like his peers but he wore a turban - and that difference, among other things, led to bullying by fellow students. Singh also had to find out for himself who he was in his majority white neighborhood and that has impacted him today.
Major funding for America ReFramed provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding provided by Open Society Foundations,...
From Here | Growing Up Sikh in America
Clip: Season 11 Episode 5 | 1m 9sVideo has Closed Captions
Growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina was both an American and Sikh experience for Sonny Singh and his brother. He had a childhood like his peers but he wore a turban - and that difference, among other things, led to bullying by fellow students. Singh also had to find out for himself who he was in his majority white neighborhood and that has impacted him today.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGrowing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, looking the way that I looked, which was kind of like I look now, but smaller and no beard was a challenge, to say the least.
By like no exaggeration.
my brother and I were the only two Sikh boys, so that was like really isolating and difficult.
- The early musician.
- The bow tie.
Very impressive.
A friend of my mom's drew this.
It's He-Man on a piece of paper in the middle and put on the cake.
- Oh, yeah.
The axe.
I was really into He-Man ironically.
In the fifth grade, some kid pulled off my turban on the playground.
That was the first time that happened.
At that point, I didn't even know how to put on a turban myself, you know?
So I was walking around school the rest of the day, like, with my turban, like, hanging off of my head.
I mean, talk about humiliating.
I also remember filling out this worksheet in school, and I remember my top wish was I wish I could cut my hair.
There was a real desire to be white.
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Major funding for America ReFramed provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding provided by Open Society Foundations,...