Recognized for his movies such as Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, The Namesake, and How I Met Your Mother, Kal Penn is currently working in the White House Office of Public Engagement as the Associate Director and has been recently caught in a twitterversy with his views against the stop-and-frisk policy.
The controversy began when Penn tweeted, “Great op/ed by @MikeBloomberg on the merits of “stop-question-frisk.”
Shortly afterwards, however, the actor faced judgement and a debate ensued that focused on the policy. Being caught in crossfire between scholars, South Asian community leaders, students, artists, and lawyers.
Penn followed up and clarified his decision to tweet in the Huffington post where he said, “As people of color is this effective? Does it have merit? How do we make our own communities of color safer (since we are collectively more often victims of crime)?” He apologized for not being clear and conceptualising the reason behind his tweet. Which seemed like changing sides in the heated moment.
As a response to Penn’s question, ARC President Rinku Sen and SAALT Deepa Iyer have both opposed and released statements in the midst of the controversy.
According to them, “Our unequivocal answers to these questions are: no, no and not with stop-and-frisk.
Stopping, interrogating, detaining or searching people based on characteristics such as their actual or perceived race, national origin, immigration status or religion is racial profiling. In a democracy, there has to be a reason to stop and search someone. Being a person of color isn’t a good enough reason.
Stop-and-frisk sounds so benign yet it covers up the violent humiliation experienced by many young black and brown men annually. It involves being thrown to the ground face down. Cops dumping your belongings on the street while they taunt you with predictions that you’ll never amount to anything. Experiencing the humiliation a dozen times before you’re 16 years old and continuing into your adulthood. This type of police enforcement not only hurts the individual, but also entire communities whose members are treated as “others” and automatically deemed unwelcome suspects in their own neighbourhoods.”
For them, the stop-and-frisk policy is not effective and does not reduce crime rate but instead it perpetuates the epidemic of racial profiling especially for the South Asian communities who have also been racially profiled alongside the Latinos and Blacks in New York.
The South Asian leaders and Kal Penn both mentioned that since September 11, 2001, many South Asians have been the unfortunate targets of would-be terrorists in many settings.
Plenty of South Asians including Muslims and Sikhs have encountered racial hate crimes, harassment at airports and borders, interrogations and detentions by immigration authorities in the name of national security.
There is also a constant tension due to the surveillance of Muslim mosques, restaurants, and Muslim Student Associations. NYPD is also facing several lawsuits of their surveillance in Muslim communities. Many young working class people become targets of stop-and-frisk policy not just in airports but also in schools.
Kal Penn clarified furthermore, and extended his support to their statement and said, “I support the statement from South Asian community leaders on the impact of racial profiling. I have and still do oppose racial profiling in any form. I want to thank SAALT and Colorlines for reaching out and starting to educate & dialogue with me about these issues. I plan on being in regular contact with these great community leaders and allies around the issue of racial profiling, and to dialogue with and engage others about it. It’s important for all our communities to be educated, informed, and mobilized.”
The South Asian leaders have urged South Asians to join the growing multiracial movement to remove the stop-and-frisk policy and other policies that target persons of colour in New York city and across the nation.
Images & Source: colorlines.org, Rebekah Spicuglia/ARC, and bigstory.ap.org, and media.tumblr.com
Anokhi Blogs, Anokhi Media, Applied Research Center, Arc, Controversy, Deepa Iyer, How I Met Your Mother, Jumpa Lahiri, Kal Penn, Mike Bloomberg, Namesake, Racial Profiling, Racism, Rinku Sen, Saalt, South Asian American, Twitter
COMMENTS
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
-
Transitional Representation of South Asian Women in The World of Entertainment
-
Hot February 2024 Films From Bollywood And Beyond!
-
How Jesse "Punjabi Timbit" Singh Explores Emotional Healing Through His Comedy
-
Rukus Avenue Radio, The World's #1 South Asian Radio Station, Joins The iHeartRadio App
-
From Silent Frames To Global Fame: Key Moments That Shaped Bollywood
-
Hot January 2024 Films From Bollywood And Beyond!
-
Kerala Actor Santhy Balachandran Celebrates Her Three Incredible Releases In 2023
-
Hot December 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond!
-
The Real Reason Why Bollywood Directors Love English In Their Titles
-
Diwali Dance Fest Makes History at Walt Disney World® Resort!
-
TIFF 2023: Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja Share Why 'I Am Sirat’ Is The Transgender Story To Be Told
-
The International South Asian Film Festival 2023 (iSAFF) Wraps With A Celebration Of Outstanding Global South Asian Pathbreakers
-
TIFF 2023: 'We Grown Now' Director Minhal Baig Shares With Us Why Neighbourhood Stories Should Be Told
-
Event Alert: BMO International Film Festival Of South Asia Toronto (IFFSA) Is Every Filmi Lover's Dream
-
TIFF 2023: ‘The Queen of My Dreams’ Reigns Over TIFF With Style, Wit And Heart
-
The 21st Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles (IFFLA) Returns With A Bang!
-
Brendan D'Souza Will Never Cheat On Their One True Love (Stand Up!)
-
Event Alert: South Asian Global Cinema Takes Centre Stage At The International South Asian Film Festival
-
Diwali Comes Alive At Walt Disney World With The First Ever Diwali Dance Fest
-
TIFF 2023: 11 South Asian Films Coming To The Toronto International Film Festival
-
Hot September 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond!
-
Singers Karan Aujla & Jonita Gandhi Sign On To Warner Music Canada/India's Label '91 North Records'
-
4 Ways Alia Bhatt Steals The Show In The Hot Netflix Film "Heart Of Stone"
-
Priyanka And Nick Jonas Get Ready For The Jonas Brothers' Tour At Yankee Stadium!
-
Hot August 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond!
-
5 Reasons Why You Should Watch “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani”
-
JFL Exclusive: How Comedian Zarna Garg Showed Kevin Hart That Brown Women Can Be Funny Too
-
JFL Exclusive: Award-Winning Podcast Comedian Maddy Kelly Is The Next Gen Star
-
Hot July 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond!
-
Event Alert: “Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical" Kicks Off Canadian Tour With Upcoming Toronto Stop
-
#ANOKHI20: The ANOKHI Emerald Ball Was The Perfect Grand Finale To ANOKHI’s 20th Anniversary Celebrations
-
Pride 2023: 10 Bollywood Films That Honour Our Desi LGBTQIA+ Family
-
Hot Summer Films From Bollywood And Beyond!
-
Review: 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story' Is For The Ones Who Love Love!
-
Pamela Mala Sinha's Latest Play "NEW" Breathes Fresh Life Into Our Parents' Immigrant Story
-
Dilpreet Bhattal Proved Her Mettle On CBC's "Canada's Ultimate Challenge"
-
Here's Why You Can't Miss The 12th South Asian Film Festival Of Montréal
-
The First Ever South Asian House At SXSW Made All Sorts Of History
-
Hot April 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond
-
'Canada's Got Talent' Judge Lilly Singh Wants Us To Get Ready To Be Amazed
-
Don't Miss Out On The 10th Annual Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival
-
Oscars 2023 Highlights: How Our South Asian Stars Took Over Tinseltown
-
Hot March 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond
-
Ali Hassan Shares Comedic Life Lessons In His Memoir “Is There Bacon In Heaven?”
-
Nisha Pahuja Follows A Father's Search For Justice In Her Latest Doc "To Kill A Tiger"
-
From South India to LA, R&B Star Malavika Is Set Sizzle In 2023!
-
CBC's "Bollywed" Spotlights Chandan Fashion's Iconic Family Bridal Business
-
Hot February 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond
-
Is Mindy Kaling A Self-Hating South Asian?
-
The Harry & Meghan Drama: What Would Happen If They Were Desi?
-
Star Rakhee Morzaria Dishes On Season 2 Of CBC Sitcom “Run The Burbs”
-
Hot January 2023 Films From Bollywood And Beyond