J.B. Singh's pet peeve is being associated with Osama bin Laden because of his beard and turban. Apart from the fact he's not a terrorist, Singh is also a Sikh, not a Muslim.
Muslim Suzanne Montgomery says she's sometimes treated like she's unintelligent, just because she chooses to dress in traditional modest clothing, covering every body part except her face and hands.
Singh and Montgomery were on hand Wednesday in a discussion aimed at raising cultural awareness among law enforcement and improving their understanding of Muslim, Sikh and Arab communities.
Terrorists, anti-American, angry and oppressive to women were a few stereotypes discussed at the session sponsored by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Utah Office of Asian Affairs and the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake.
"We tend, I think, to lump people together when we don't understand," said Paul M. Warner of the U.S. Attorney's Office. "We in law enforcement need to work together to build bridges in the community."
From respecting the religious modesty reason behind some Muslim women's choice to wear a head covering, or understanding a Sikh man's and (sometimes woman's) turban is more meaningful than a piece of cloth, the seminar served as a crash course in culture. The discussion included some of the differences between Sikhism, a 500-year-old monotheistic religion originating in India, and Islam, a belief in one God and the prophet Muhammad.
While specific acts of terrorism, such as the beheading of Philadelphia native Nick Berg, 26, shown on an al-Qaida-linked Web site, weren't mentioned, the Muslim speakers said their holy book, the Quran, forbids hurting innocent people.
"It's really painful," Montgomery told the Deseret Morning News. "I deal with the beheading in the same way Americans, here, I am dealing with torture (of Iraqis by American soldiers) . . . I have to view it, that it is not typical, that is not what I believe in. That is all I can really do."
Montgomery said she's sometimes fearful for her children, who are known to be Muslim. Hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims have increased 1,600 percent in the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Imam Shuaib-Ud Din of the Khadeeja mosque in West Valley City.
Din said hate crimes in Utah are "isolated incidents," perhaps because of empathy among the majority members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who have also been ostracized in the past. Din said Muslims share many of the same concerns about passing on family values and modesty to their children as the LDS community.
"Most Muslims, I believe, would be love to be in America," he said. "The honesty, work ethic, this truly is the land of opportunity."
Utah Highway Patrol trooper Barry Dalton said it's easy for law officers to develop a stereotypical view of any group of people, since they usually deal only with those who break the law. He said it was helpful to learn about certain cultural behaviors, such as Muslims' tendency to avoid eye contact out of respect.
"It's good to know it doesn't mean they're being evasive," he said. "It's nice to be able to avoid some of the faux pas."
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com