http://www.wa****ngtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2008/Jun/12/sleek-sikh/
Sleek Sikh
Belief Blog
Seven years ago; s****ting a Sikh turban could get you killed, as was
Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner who was shot Sept. 15, 2001 in
Mesa, Ariz., after his murderer mistook him for a Muslim.
Today, the trademark black head covering s****ted by male members of
the Sikh religion can get you into the heights of mens' fa****on. Such
is what happened to Sandeep Singh "Sonny" Caberwal, 29, a graduate of
Duke University and Georgetown Law School who on a whim, it seems,
decided to take on a most unusual assignment: Modeling mens clothing
to make a point about diversity.
Mr. Caberwal, shown in photos accompanying this column, grew up in
rural Ashboro, N.C. as the son of a doctor and the wearer of a turban
ever since he was a small child. His family is from Punjab, India. He
has never cut his hair, as all Sikh men have been required to have
long hair since 1699. It is always covered by a skull cap and turban.
Some time ago - he does not know when - Kenneth Cole, founder of a
clothing line by the same name - got an idea for an advertising
campaign on breaking stereotypes - and plugging clothing. Mr. Cole
hired a casting agency to find a male Sikh willing to be a model. The
man had to be American-born, highly educated and articulate. There
being no candidates on the usual lists, the agency began calling up
national Sikh-rights organizations and Mr. Caberwal heard Cole was
looking.
One thing led to another and last October, he found himself in New
York posing in some pretty spiffy clothes along with that turban.
"People think Sikhs are fundamentalist, outside the mainstream of
society, or immigrants or something is wrong with them," Mr. Caberwal
said in a visit to my office yesterday. "Kenneth Cole wanted to
represent the fabric of American culture. There's a lot of struggle in
the United States as to how we perceive people post 9-11. I as much
American as anyone else."
Kenneth Cole has a history of provocative advertising, running ads
promoting everything from AIDS awareness to helping homelessness. He
designed T-****rts for World AIDS Day in 2005 and announced in 2006 he
would stop selling fur in his clothing. His choice of a Sikh to
represent an American Everyman has made headlines in newspapers in
India, where Sikhs number some 25 million adherents, a drop in the
ocean compared with the country's huge Hindu majority. There are about
500,000 Sikhs in the United States.
"I've heard from thousands of people around the world on how they
appreciated this," Mr. Caberwal said. He hopes his day in the sun will
encourage Sikh youth, whose unusual headcovering makes them stand out
in a crowd.
"Having a unique identity can be a very lonely road to walk down," the
model said. "Fighting against a negative stereotype is consistantly
tough."
All Sikhs know what it's like to be harassed, he said, and his brother-
in-law has endured worse: physical threats, job descrimination and
taunts just for being confused with Muslims. Kenneth Cole had heard of
what Sikhs endure, he said, and wanted to include a Sikh in an ad
campaign to introduce the concept that Sikhs are normal folk who wear
cool clothes and think like us.
He flew to Wa****ngton Tuesday to speak at a Sikh-American dinner on
Capitol Hill. I told him that I had rarely if ever encountered an ad
agency that used religion to sell clothes. We disagreed over whether
Kenneth Cole's campaign had anything to do with faith. He said it did
not; it was more about a "look" that is exotic, unusual, out-of-the-
box now but that will be the new normal in a more diversified
America.
Even if it's just about building a brand, Kenneth Cole is borrowing
symbols that are far more complex than a fa****on centerfold. And where
does it stop? If you use a turbaned Sikh to shock and captivate today,
do you employ women in hijabs and men wearing yarmulkehs tomorrow?
Religious clothing makes a statement, as we've seen from the granny-
style dresses worn by fundamentalist Mormon women who were part of the
west Texas compound raided last month by police and child welfare
investigators.
Is there a point at which such clothing, worn for modesty or to
express devotion to God, should not be used as a fa****on statement, no
matter how noble its objectives? I draw the line at who is doing the
modeling. If the model - as was Mr. Caberwal, part of that religion,
I've no problem with them wearing distinctive dress. But should that
clothing become an accoutrement on a secular wearer, then no, it
should not be used for fa****on.
In the case of the Sikhs, Mr. Caberwal is the first such American
model and a groundbreaker in illustrating how Sikhs and other Indians
have arrived as part of the American scene.
=97 Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Wa****ngton Times
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