Sikh Man’s Reply To An Apparent Racist Tweet Goes Viral, But Did People Overreact?

Well over a year ago, a Twitter user named Ryan Carr (@HardRCarr) sent out a tweet that wasn’t noticed by many people. The tweet was sent out on the occasion of the anniversary of the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Gurdwara massacre. (A gurudwara is the place of worship for Sikhs). A white supremacist opened fire at the Gurudwara and killed six people and injured four others. Members of the Sikh community have long faced problems at the hands of paranoid Americans since the 9/11 attacks. They are often mistaken for Muslims owing to the usage of the turban among the Sikhs.

Ryan Carr’s tweet read;

“Am I racist if I feel uncomfortable about a guy with a turban on my plane because this isn’t okay with me?”

Buried under millions of other tweets that go unnoticed, the aforementioned tweet was re-tweeted a year later by the relative of Ashishpal Singh, a 22-year-old Sikh man based out of New Jersey, reports the Hindustan Times.

Singh, who is a student of Biological Sciences at Penn State University, gave a befitting reply to the tweet by Ryan.

It reads;

“Ugh, I know what you mean, I get really uncomfortable whenever I see a white man walk into a movie theatre or elementary school.”

The tweet was an obvious reference to the 2012 Aurora Shooting incident at Colorado and several other instances of elementary school shootings – apparently perpetrated by “whites.”

Ashishpal Singh’s reply was noticed by several people and within hours, it went viral. As of now, it has received a staggering 8100 retweets and has been favorited by over 11,000 people. Singh gained several new followers and has been showered with praises for his “apt” reply to the obvious “racist” tweet.

Ryan Carr, obviously bothered by the negative publicity his tweet generated has since then made his account private and the original tweet is no longer visible. However, before the tweet went viral, Carr had replied to Singh with a tweet that read;

“You’re actually funny, if anyone’s seen my twitter it’s never to be taken seriously, but I laughed at your tweet.”

Singh seemed to have acknowledged the reply from Ryan. Carr obviously meant he was just joking, and he did not intend to be sound racist and that it was taken out of context. However, that didn’t seem to have bothered people who have now termed Carr a racist and have lampooned him on several social networks.

Do you think people have become too judgmental these days? Or do you think the tweet sent out by Ryan was indeed racist – whether or not it was meant to be a joke?

Do let us know in the comments section below.

[Image Via rediff.com]