Report Reveals That Americans Know Little About Sikhs or the Sikh Faith

:dateline:Despite the tall claims of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) of propagating Sikhism worldwide, the majority of Americans are unaware of what Sikhism is or what a Sikh looks like, despite the country being home to more than half a million Sikhs.

According to an article �Sikhism in the US: What Americans know and need to know�, many Americans have never heard of the religion and only 11 percent of them have a personal acquaintance or friend who is a Sikh. The majority of Americans (60 percent) admit to knowing nothing at all about Sikh Americans and knowledge of Sikhism is substantially lower than for other minority religious groups in the United States.

While only 40 percent of Americans said they know at least something about Sikh Americans, 62, 76 and 86 percent said they knew something about Hindu Americans, Muslim Americans, and Jewish Americans respectively, according to the study conducted by Hart Research Associates on behalf of the National Sikh Campaign.

When shown a photo of a male Sikh wearing a turban, only 11 percent of them recognized him as a Sikh. Far more believe that the person is Muslim (20 percent), Hindu (13 per cent), or Middle Eastern (28 per cent), the report said. The study commissioned by the National Sikh Campaign to provide Sikhs a foundation for awareness-based initiatives that dispel the misconceptions that have driven the dramatic rise of hate-based violence against Sikhs since 9/11.

The report is the most comprehensive study every conducted on the Sikh-American community. �This landmark study will help the Sikh community by giving us the ability to educate Americans in a way that is both relative and effective. It also allows us to see which demographics are most receptive to our messaging as well as those who we need to target the most to prevent misunderstanding,� said Gurwin Singh Ahuja, co-founder of NSC.