‘Divided We Fall’
Filmmaker and blogger Valarie Kaur appeared on CNN two months ago promoting her documentary Divided We Fall, about violence against Sikhs in America:
At 2:10, some yahoo in an AC/DC cap yells ‘Down with Taliban!’ during an interview at a football game.
on Wednesday, July 11th, 2007, 5:49 pm in Issues, Religion, Video clips › 
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I’m glad this documentary was made…I just wish it was made by someone else. I mean, great effort to this woman, but I just wasn’t too impressed. She seems pretty green and her views on racism were kind of hokey…stuff like, we’re a melting pot! and embrace diversity! etc etc. From what I understand she is a Stanford student going to law school, and did this film in between? It just lacks maturity. The reason why it is compelling is b/c of the stories themselves…they are very poignant and don’t need much finessing in order to make an impact. Anyway, guess it’s better than nothing.
sorry that sounded really mean. i should add taht i heard her speak after the film as well, and that added to my opinion. it’s definitely a very watchable, important movie…just don’t expect to be blown away by the way it was made.
I thought the initial scorn - despite the attempted backtracking in the second post - was mean spirited and uncalled for. Kaur did us all - desis and nondesis- a great service by bringing the issue to the forefront. She deserves our appreciation and gratitude.
kinda cute. stanford + law school + artsy-fartsy? damn, a catch indeed! shame she’s not hindu.
Umm, I am sure she is distraught over this thwarted love…
This story needed telling. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to wear a turban and beard these days.
hey i was extra caffeinated when i wrote that :) no, but i do stand by what i wrote. the issue itself is worth bringing to the forefront, but the vehicle itself wasn’t that great. it’s still a poignant, watchable film b/c of the actual anecdotes from the sikh men and women, but a lot of the extra navel-gazing by the filmmaker was kind of annoying (in MY opinion). i’m sorry if you know her personally, it’s not a personal attack, just a critique.
At least she got off her ass and did something about it, unlike you caffeinated and pompous and doing sweet jack about important issues in the world. You sound like a lazy navel gazer yourself.
The thing that annoyed me most was Zahn’s pronunciation. “Surrender Siddu”?
The documentary raises an interesting question. Personally, I feel as much outrage at an attack on a Sikh as on an Arab. How do you raise awareness of the misdirected attacks without somehow implying that these attacks are, in some sense, worse?
Haha, you’re so right - I AM caffeinated and pompous. You are quite insightful. Too bad I’m only using these pompous Ivy League degrees to represent Sikh victims of hate crimes and innocent Gitmo detainees…but I get it. You’re closely connected to the filmmaker, or some troll I annoyed in a past online spat. This critique is somehow personal for you, and you can’t seem to separate the issue from the vehicle (i.e. criticizing a film about the Holocaust doesn’t make you an anti-Semite).
if we as a community stop saying things like, “we’re not the terrorists, they are!” or as russell peters puts it, “i wish ppl knew the difference between an indian and a terrorist.” well, everytime we say, “we’re not” we are implicity saying, “they ARE.”
Exactly. My. Point.
Lazy Navel Gazer is a great name for an emo band.
right…….so hence the answer to your query is, “stop saying things like, ‘we’re not the terrorists, they are!’ or as russell peters puts it, ‘i wish ppl knew the difference between an indian and a terrorist.’”
while educating ppl about sikhs, don’t make binary judgments. i wish more people would say, “although the hate crimes against sikhs is misdirected, that should not imply that it is correctly directed at innocent arabs, muslims, etc. there are very many peaceful muslims, etc. we should go after hate and its roots, not a profile.” or something like that. all i hear is, “sikhs are innocent, we don’t deserve to be attacked.” etc etc.
Agreed, ASLPH :) I didn’t see the CNN program say that, not in one place. And Russell Peters is a dolt (no offence if you’re reading, RP :) But we should too, I agree. The most strenuous protest among non-muslims is, “We’re not them.” Bigot or Idiot Bigot - all the same.
It’s important to demand civility and understanding for all, but I don’t see that there is anything wrong in pointing out that Sikhs have their own distinctive religion. Post-9/11, CAIR & MSAN and other groups were pushing ad campaigns etc. emphasizing their connection with Christianity & Judaism as fellow “People of the Book”. You can infer from this, “This is atypical, we aren’t pagans or godless commies for whom this would be par for the course”