9/11 became a catalyst for interfaith relations and cooperation
Though anti-Muslim sentiments grew in the wake of 9/11, another legacy of that historic day is the evolution and advancement of interfaith cooperation in the United States. Read the article from Religion News Service here.
Mourners place flowers and pictures in the name cut-out of Kyung Hee (Casey) Cho at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, Sept. 11, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Sat Hari Singh — a Sikh who keeps his beard and turban — became a hero.
A train operator for the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City, Singh made a snap decision to drive his train away from the city as soon as he saw smoke billowing into the Fulton Street Station. In the aftermath of the attacks, he was recognized by the MTA as a “hero of 9/11.”
But weeks later, his employer instituted a “brand or segregate” policy, requiring individuals such as Singh to pin the MTA’s logo on their religious head coverings. Overnight, he went from a hero to a suspect, and it took years of litigation to reverse the discriminatory policy.