美国国家公共电台 NPR--Community members remember the massacre at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin

Community members remember the massacre¹ at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin

Transcript²

It was 10 years ago that a white supremacist opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek³. Seven people died. A decade later, hate crimes against Sikhs and other South Asians are on the rise.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Ten years ago today, a white supremacist walked into a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and opened fire. Seven people were killed. As the community remembers the massacre, the number of hate crimes against Asian Americans, including South Asians and Sikhs, continues to climb. NPR's Sandhya Dirks reports.

SANDHYA DIRKS, BYLINE⁴: Pardeep Singh Kaleka and his family were supposed to be at the gurdwara that morning.

PARDEEP SINGH KALEKA: We were 10 minutes away from losing our life or maybe losing our life.

DIRKS: They were running late. Kaleka's daughter forgot her notebook at home.

KALEKA: Both my mom and dad were inside the gurdwara at the time. My dad lost his life. And my mom was able to survive by kind of hiding in a closet.

DIRKS: At the time, it was the deadliest hate crime in a place of worship in the U.S.

Back then, Deepa Iyer was head of SAALT, South Asian Americans Leading Together. She remembers seeing the news on TV.

DEEPA IYER: When I watched those images from the parking lot of the gurdwara, you know, I was devastated⁵. I was shocked. And there was a part of me that was not surprised.

DIRKS: There's a long history of racism⁶ against Sikhs and South Asians in America. But after 9/11, things got exponentially worse. The first victim of a 9/11-fueled hate crime was a Sikh man, Balbir Singh Sodhi.

IYER: The idea that South Asians are seen as a national security threat - you know, it's not fully⁷ gone away, right? It's still in the ether.

DIRKS: Iyer says the government was interested in South Asians as perpetrators of terrorism. They didn't so much care about them as victims of it. Here's then-18-year-old Harpreet Singh Saini, whose mother was murdered at Oak Creek, testifying before the U.S. Senate in the days after.

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HARPREET SINGH SAINI: I came here today to ask the government to give my mother the dignity of being a statistic⁸. The FBI does not track hate crimes against Sikhs.

DIRKS: It took until 2015 for the FBI to start, says Nikki Singh with the Sikh Coalition⁹.

NIKKI SINGH: If we look at the data, since 2015, Sikhs have been among the top five, if not among the top three, most targeted faith groups for hate crimes across the United States.

DIRKS: The group Stop AAPI Hate has been tracking hate crimes against Asian Americans since the pandemic. They found this past year South Asians, alongside Pacific Islanders and Southeast Asians, reported higher rates of bias¹⁰ incidents and hate crimes than East Asians. Oak Creek was in many ways the harbinger of the rising wave of white supremacist terrorism. It's something that Pardeep Singh Kaleka has thought about since his dad was killed in the gurdwara that morning.

KALEKA: How understanding racism and white supremacy¹¹ is such an academic exercise for lots of Americans, and for other people, it's a lived experience.

DIRKS: Kaleka is now a deradicalization counselor¹² working with white supremacists. He says you have to get at the root causes of hate. But he says it can be hard.

KALEKA: And I fear that it will continue to escalate¹³.

DIRKS: He points out that even tonight, as his community gathers for a vigil in Oak Creek, Donald Trump¹⁴ is holding a rally 20 minutes away in Waukesha, the site of a mass killing¹⁵ last November that the Anti-Defamation League says has been exploited by white supremacists. Kaleka says, before the massacre, he didn't consider himself to be super religious. But that changed. There's this saying in his religion.

KALEKA: Nanak Naam Chardi Kala, teraa bhane sarbat da bhala is repeated over and over again.

DIRKS: It means, in part, to...

KALEKA: Bend the moral arc of this universe towards a good for all people.

DIRKS: It tells followers¹⁶ something essential to Sikhism - be relentlessly¹⁷ optimistic.

Sandhya Dirks, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF YO-YO MA AND SILKROAD ENSEMBLE'S "DISTANT GREEN VALLEY")

1 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

6 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

11 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

12 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

13 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

16 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

17 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。