At the Nov.18 Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees public meeting, two people publicly condemned the board for approving November as Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month in a unanimous vote for a resolution at a prior board meeting on Nov. 4.
Two women, Jan Fliflet — who regularly offers a positive prayer for the board during open public comment at meetings — and a woman who identified herself as Shereen Laurie, criticized the board for the resolution. Laurie went as far as to say she condemns the board.
“I condemn this board and I ask that you please reverse the resolution to honor Sikhs. You may open a door that may be tough for you in the future. I ask that you publicly repent,” said Laurie.
Fliflet then offered to pray for the board for Sikhism and “that our founding fathers fought to establish the true worship of God.”
As part of the resolution approved by the Board of Trustees, schools throughout TUSD this month recognized and honored the contributions and history of American Sikhs — who have a large, contributing population in the Valley and in the Turlock area.
Last week Trustee Harinder Grewal, who identifies himself as an American Sikh, went to Turlock High School to speak to students about Sikhism and the contributions of Sikhs. At the Nov. 4 meeting he explained that Sikhism is a religion of peace and equality, and in their teachings they believe in social equality, activism and respect for all religions.
“It was a big surprise to me, I was shocked,” said Grewal. “I respect everyone’s freedom of speech but what they said was very inappropriate and out of line. This is about honoring American Sikhs, who have been here for more than 100 years. The resolution was simply showing respect to Sikhs who are hard-working people who contribute to our society. This nation is all about diversity — it is our strength and in order to have diversity you have to be educated about the different people.”
Grewal says he knows that Laurie and Fliflet’s opinions do not reflect the vast majority of people.
“There will never be a perfect world and there will always be people like this,” he said. “There are no hard feelings, if I get a chance to talk to her I would sit down and tell her I respect her right to free speech.”
Board members did not comment at the meeting, as they are not supposed to during public comment, but did fire back later.
“One of the great things about our country is that people are allowed to speak their opinion — they can do that and it’s their right, but the comments don’t change my position. Honoring diversity is very important to me,” said Trustee Deborah Martin.
Trustee Frank Lima would not comment other than to say, “It was very out of character for sister Jan (Fliflet). I normally appreciate her comments.”
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Now, do you understand? With adult bullies like this, how can teachers reverse bullying behaviors in some young people? They are learning it at home and feel justified in being mean.
Well, it’s scary enough that Ms. Laurie and Ms. Fliflet apparently believe such a distortion of Christianity. And that they openly spew such religious intolerance with no apparent understanding of the US Constitution’s protection of religious freedom and free speech for ALL. Ms. Fliflet and Ms. Laurie express a level of paranoia that makes me wonder how they venture outside the comfort of their homes!
In my honest opinion if your going to teach my kid of Sikhism you better teach them my religion as well which is Hinduism. Kids don’t need to know more about another religion then there own which is why they should not be doing this in the first place. The only reason this is happening is because the assistant principal happens to be Sikh. For being a person that grew up in Turlock Sikhs are not the only religion having major contribution. The only major contribution so far Sikhs have made is the ones you can search on YouTube such as “Sikhs fighting Turlock”. Ridiculous what someone can cause based on there status and ethnicity. Preach about all religions or none at all!
Indeed, the more the merrier. And instead of wringing one’s hands in despair, get up there and present the values of your religion. I believe a common thread runs through most religions: be nice and be kind.