On September 15, 2001, Sikh-American Balbir Singh Sodhi was murdered at his Chevron gas station in Mesa, Arizona, about an hour from where I now live. I distinctly remember reading the news in horror when it came across the wire at the York Daily Record/Sunday News 25 years ago.
Sodhi was the victim of a hate crime in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Muslims, their institutions and people who "looked like Muslims" were targeted across the nation while we listened to Lee Greenwood's song, printed copies of the American flag to be displayed in windows, and held candlelight vigils. Sodhi, who was well known for giving free candy to children who came into the gas station's convenience store, was planting flowers at the edges of his station to honor the 9/11 victims when he was gunned down because of his turban and the color of his skin.
This memorial plaque to Sodhi was placed at the gas station where he was killed. You can read about his life and death in this excellent 2021 CNN article, which notes that Sodhi's "story rarely appears in history books."
Speaking of which, here are some books of note on this topic:
- Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans After 9/11, by Lori Peek (2010)
- Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump, by Spencer Ackerman (2022)
- Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority, by Zareena Grewal (2013)
- Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11, by Louise A. Cainkar (2011)
- Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America, by Rozina Ali (2026)
- See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love, by Valarie Kaur (2021)
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