c. 2008 Religion News Service

SAN FRANCISCO _ Is a turban just a turban when it’s featured in a Kenneth Cole ad campaign?

Sandeep “Sonny” Singh Caberwal, 28, is one of 11 people featured in a national ad campaign titled “We All Walk in Different Shoes” to mark the company’s 25th anniversary. Other subjects include an illegal immigrant, a disabled rugby player and gay parents.

Caberwal, a Georgetown Law School graduate who now consults for start-up companies, has been accused of turning his outward religious identity into just another commodity.

For Sikh men, the turban is one of five articles of faith _ the others are a bracelet, undergarments, a ceremonial dagger and a comb _ worn as an outward expression of faith and identity. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, several Sikhs were attacked when they were mistaken for Muslims.

The YouTube version of Caberwal’s video ad has been viewed almost 24,000 times. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Q: You grew up in small-town North Carolina. What was it like maintaining your religious identity there?

A: It’s different pressures in different places. Some people might think that a small town might be an ignorant place, but in my experience it was less of that than being a small community. The people in your community understand who you are, and my parents have now been there for 37 or 38 years. People understand what your culture is and who you are, and sometimes it’s easier to navigate in a community like that.

Q: What has it been like being a Sikh man wearing a turban after 9/11?

A: At the end of the day, you’re always misunderstood in a lot of ways. Sometimes it’s good, and a lot of times it’s bad. Unfortunately right now, post-9/11, the prevailing image people associate with a turban is that of an Islamic fundamentalist, which I can understand, but it can be a tough thing.

Part of your community is to educate people about who you are and what your religious beliefs are _ not from a conversion standpoint but from a strictly educational standpoint. There’s so much misunderstanding out there.

Q: Did you ever think about abandoning the turban after 9/11?

A: Wearing a turban is for me part of my culture, my religion, who I am. Wearing the turban might have made my life a little harder in some ways, but that’s kind of the point. You are a unique person and there are challenges that come with that identity. Through the course of Sikh tradition and history, people have faced significantly greater persecution for maintaining that identity. What happened after 9/11 was regrettable, but it’s certainly not the worst that anyone’s behaved toward a religious minority.

Q: What was your most disturbing experience post-9/11?

A: My brother-in-law was attacked, a lot of people were attacked, and there was a lot of overt hatred from a lot of people.

Q: What impact do you hope your ad will have in shaping people’s attitudes toward Sikhs?

A: I hope the biggest takeaway is for younger Sikh kids, because they don’t have any positive role models in the media. Not that I’m attempting at all to be a role model, but I think it’s important for people who are young. As an adult you have the tools and the capacity to deal with your own situation. But when you’re 8 years old, you don’t really have the experience and the mental tools to be able to cope with those situations appropriately sometimes. And what is helpful is if there is somebody you can kind of associate yourself with. It just helps you feel a little bit more proud of who you are.

Q: One critique in the blogosphere is that you have commodified your faith. What’s your response to that?

A: I think it’s just a misunderstanding of what the ad campaign is about. The campaign is very political in nature. They’re not selling anything in the ad, they’re selling a brand, and it’s much more about creating a campaign. That campaign reflects upon the brand.

Now, am I wearing a Kenneth Cole turban? No, I’m not! So I happen to be a Sikh person, but that’s by no means commodifying my religion in my opinion.

Q: What is it like to become a celebrity in the Southeast Asian community and a role model for Sikhs?

A: I get notes from people from around the world, but that doesn’t mean that I am by any means a celebrity. My life is very unaffected by it, especially out here in San Francisco. But that being said, the campaign is not about me, it’s about the identity of a Sikh person. As opposed to, for instance, a Chanel ad with Nicole Kidman in it. It’s about Nicole Kidman because she is who she is. This is about the identity of a Sikh person or somebody who’s challenging a particular stereotype.

KRE/PH END CRABTREE