The gathering begins at 7 p.m. on the western steps of City Hall, 333 Civic Center Plaza, with a vigil to follow at the Sikh temple at 11157 W. Clover Road at about 8 p.m., according to Jass Sangha.
Everyone in the community is welcome, said Sangha, who is a member of the Tracy Planning Commission and the city’s Sikh community.
The gathering is a chance for residents to come together and learn about one another in the wake of the temple attack, she said.
“We live here. We have our roots here,” she said. “For me, it’s very important that we have a close community.”
She said local members of the Sikh faith — a monotheistic religion with roots in 15th-century India — were stunned by the news of the Sunday, Aug. 5, shooting in which a lone gunman entered an Oak Creek, Wis., temple and fatally shot six people and severely wounded a police officer before apparently shooting himself, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigations announcement Wednesday.
“I was at temple (Sunday) when I found out (about the shooting),” Sangha said. “It was unbelievable. You can’t believe someone could do that at a place of worship.”
There are two Sikh temples in the Tracy area, Sangha said — the West Clover Road location, and another at 1601 W. Grant Line Road, west of the city limits. Sangha described local Sikhs as a close-knit community of about 4,500 followers.
But it was an outpouring of support from non-Sikhs after the shooting, Sangha said, that made her want to thank her neighbors. She also expressed thanks to Oak Creek police Lt. Brian Murphy, who was reportedly shot nine times while responding to the shooting.
“Words cannot really express it,” she said.
Mercedes Silveira is an activist who has been involved in several local efforts, including the South Side Community Organization and United Way Tracy Community Council. She was saddened by the Wisconsin attack, and called the Sikhs an “exemplary community.”
“(My husband) and I have been to the Sikh temple many times, and they’ve welcomed us with open arms,” Silveira said.
The FBI is investigating whether the Wisconsin shooter, identified as Wade Michael Page, targeted Sikhs because of their religion or appearance. Males often wear turbans and grow beards as a sign of their faith. That could make it a hate crime or case of domestic terrorism, according to the FBI.
Phyllis Gerstenfeld, head of the criminal justice Department of California State University, Stanislaus, specializes in hate crime studies. She said the Sikh community has been targeted, especially after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
They are often mistaken for Muslims, she said.
“It wouldn’t have been OK if he’d have gone into a Mosque and killed all those people, either,” Gerstenfeld said.
She said that events such as the one planned by the local Sikhs are essential for building a more inclusive and understanding community, and hopefully can help prevent future violence.
“The more that people can interact with people who are different than them, the better,” Gerstenfeld said. “Especially young people, because biases tend to begin when they’re seven or eight.”
• Contact Jon Mendelson at 831-4231 or jmendelson@tracypress.com.
The Tracy Press pretend to have what it takes to say the whole truth but when it comes to protecting certain people they will delete comments to protect them. They did this for Dave Helm, John Espinoza......and now they are not willing to let those of us who know a bit about these people and call a spade a spade speak the truth about Jass Sangha. The truth is she is a nobody trying to be a somebody.
I agree with your analysis and I don't understand why the Tracy Press deleted your comment on why it perceives Sangha as a sink community leader or spokesman when the community itself does not see her as representing them.
If no one voted for Jass Sangha all she is is white noise. Like so many others in Tracy who think they are somebody's.
I could not agree more. To use a tragic event for inflating one's political ambitions is low class. Jass Sangha is one of those tracyites who has tried every trick in the book to make her name stand out as a sikh leader, but if you ask the sikhs who failed to turn out to cast a vote for her, she is no representative to their community. She has the reputation of a power hungry, attention seeking, behind kissing of those in office, for purposes of standing out as a community leader. She is a power hungry retired store keeper who has money and wants recognition for talents she does not have. Just ask anyone in the sikh community, she has done zero to nothing to build her own community, hangs out with the who is who of Tracy in order to be recognized as a person who has 'connections' and uses her sikh origins to pretend to care for minorities. All she is after is hanging out with the rich ol white boys and pretend she is a rep of the sikh community. The sikh community wants little or nothing to do with her. The tracy press should contact real sikhs for their reactions, not a retired store keeper with failed political ambitions.
If you prefer to donate the old fashioned way, check or money order can be sent via snail mail to:
Victim Memorial Fund c/o Sikh Temple of Wisconsin
7512 S. Howell Ave.
Oak Creek, WI 53154