Majority of Americans unaware about Sikh, Sikhism: survey

A majority of Americans are unaware of what Sikhism is or what a Sikh looks like and this despite the country being home to more than half a million of them, a latest study has said.

According to the report 'Sikhism in the US: What Americans know and need to know', many Americans have never heard of the religion and only 11 per cent of them have a personal acquaintance or friend who is a Sikh. The majority of Americans (60 per cent) admit to knowing nothing at all about Sikh Americans and knowledge of Sikhism is substantially lower than for other minority religious groups in the United States.

While only 40 per cent of Americans said they know at least something about Sikh Americans, 62, 76 and 86 per cent said they knew something about Hindu Americans, Muslim Americans and Jewish Americans respectively, according to the study conducted by Hart Research Associates on behalf of the National Sikh Campaign.

When shown a photo of a male Sikh wearing a turban, only 11 per cent of them recognised him as a Sikh. Far more believe that the person is Muslim (20 per cent), Hindu (13 per cent), or Middle Eastern (28 per cent), the report said.