Crisis Communications - The Sikh Community

Silicon Valley high-tech executives founded the Sikh Communications Council to reduce the hate and backlash against Sikhs that resulted from the September 11th terrorist attacks and to stop the negative portrayal of Sikhs.

From the moment terrorists struck, it became clear that the Sikh identity, a turban and beard, would be routinely mistaken by Americans for a Muslim identity, and thus Sikhs would become a lightening rod for hate and backlash. Nowhere was that more evident than in Mesa, Arizona, when a Sikh storeowner was shot and killed by a man claiming to be an “American Patriot”.

Edward J. Vasquez was brought in to raise awareness about Sikhs, and to clarify the erroneous perceptions that Sikhs were facing. It was felt that only through the education of the American public could we move effectively to eliminate the misconceptions and misguided hated against Sikhs.

An immediate crisis PR and image building plan was put into effect. Talking points were created and training of Sikh spokespeople undertaken. Prominent elected officials were contacted and asked to show their support. The meetings resulted in positive photo opportunities and message dissemination.

Relentlessly working the media, positive image building stories in major publications such as the New York Times, LA Times and broadcast media such as CNN, MTV and NBC were obtained. We supplemented this effort with paid advertisements in major publications like the Washington Post and San Jose Mercury News.

We also began working with the FAA, the DOT and Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta to ensure that Sikhs were not singled out due to their appearance on our nation’s airlines. Guidelines were established and we proactively worked with these agencies to ensure that the laws were followed, and that Sikhs were not singled out solely due to their turban or appearance.

Other tactics used were:
Brochures and other collaterals for public dissemination
PowerPoint presentations for community groups, law enforcement, airlines and schools
Vigils to show the concerns that Sikhs have for our country
Events to showcase and promote Sikhs

Finally, recognizing that education begins in the classroom and at a young age, we quickly developed a training program and materials to empower parents to immediately go into their children’s classroom and teach other children about tolerance and diversity. 

We continue working with the Sikh community on image building to eliminate the misconceptions. In late 2002, a European software company put out a popular video game called Hitman 2 which offended the Sikh community for the way it portrayed them. ejv communications developed and executed on a strategy that resulted in action by WalMart that persuaded the video game maker to recall the game and change the images.