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CNN Live At Daybreak
Since September 11th, Some People Have Been Attacked Simply Because of How They Look
Aired October 29, 2001 - 07:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back at just about 20 minutes before the hour. Facing a no-win situation, since September 11th some people have been attacked simply because of how they look.
Since September 11th, there have been 960 complaints in which people have said they were targeted because of their ethnicity.
New York City taxi driver Parwinder Singh was attacked in his cab. Haver Rigsby, a freelance journalist, a native of Pakistan was also the victim of a brutal attack. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
Parwinder, what happened to you?
PARWINDER SINGH: Actually, like about a couple of weeks and a couple of days after the attack, I started working at nighttime driving a taxi, so I picked two guys from Port Authority, so they want to go to Brooklyn.
ZAHN: Before you go any further, we're going to put on the screen a picture of what you looked like on your taxicab medallion ...
SINGH: Sure.
ZAHN: And I've got it in my hand, which is what all taxi drivers have to carry. So you were wearing your turban this night.
SINGH: Right.
ZAHN: OK, go on and tell the story.
SINGH: And those guys -- they want to go to Brooklyn, the part of like east New York. They give me destination. So when I reached there, there were a couple of guys standing in front of their house like they are supposed to drop those guys. So those guys -- they're like holding bottles and drinking beer, right. So they're drunk. So after I reached there, they're like -- they sound like look, Osama's relative is here. So we have to finish him right now.
So they start like a -- like throwing bottles on me. They smashed my windows. Like almost 3, 4 windows of my cab. So at that time I was scared. They're -- like after a couple of minutes, I called my mom, so she said Parwinder, I want you to come home right now. So that time there's no way to call police and I don't think
like if I stayed there another minute they might want to kill me (INAUDIBLE) time.
So ...
ZAHN: So you were very lucky ...
(CROSSTALK)
SINGH: Yes.
ZAHN: Now in the meantime, in order to continue driving a cab in New York City and to feel safe, you thought it was necessary to cut all your hair off.
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: And to trim your beard.
SINGH: Yes. So it was really hard ...
ZAHN: So there's nothing underneath that hat that you're hiding this morning. You really cut a tremendous amount of hair off.
SINGH: Yes like one-third of my hair, like (INAUDIBLE) like (INAUDIBLE).
ZAHN: You endured a similar situation where you felt incredibly threatened by your Pakistani heritage. How violated do you feel?
HAVER RIGSBY, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: I feel I've been a victim of ignorance.
ZAHN: And what can you do about it?
RIGSBY: What can you do about it?
ZAHN: What do you want us to do about it?
RIGSBY: I want - not I - we (INAUDIBLE) I'm a (INAUDIBLE) journalist. I write - you go (INAUDIBLE). We have a responsibility to inform and educate our people.
ZAHN: So what do you think is happening here in America - that people that ...
(CROSSTALK)
RIGSBY: I'm as much angry about what happened in my city. New York City is my city. It's as much my city as anybody else's city. I love my city. I cried at Union Square looking at those (INAUDIBLE). I've been doing stories - I've been doing stories on the victims of September 11th tragedy and then I have been stories on hate crimes, and that I - myself became a victim of hate crime.
ZAHN: And you think it's through sheer ignorance on the ...
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: ... public part that you've been victimized as well.
(CROSSTALK)
RIGSBY: We have a greater role to play.
(CROSSTALK)
RIGSBY: And it is not being played.
ZAHN: So you think the media is doing a bad job ...
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: In helping the American public better understand that this was a crime directed, not just at America ...
(CROSSTALK)
RIGSBY: Look at him ...
(CROSSTALK)
RIGSBY: I don't have (INAUDIBLE). My (INAUDIBLE) and I look like him, and I have the same color that the (INAUDIBLE) his religion has and the region we came from, south Asia, (INAUDIBLE). So many religion, so many nationalities, so many ethnic groups and people really don't know. The guy who attacked me said you look like Osama bin Laden. Do I look like Osama bin Laden?
ZAHN: Not to me you don't, but to an ignorant person like you just said who makes no differentiation between anyone basically. So, let me ask you this, what - how has this affected your writing and how has this affected ...
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: Your ...
(CROSSTALK)
RIGSBY: Well I have not been able to write a single word since last week. This is the first day that I really felt a little bit better that I'm herein the studio talking to you.
(CROSSTALK)
RIGSBY: They took my tooth away. Your teeth are so beautiful and good-looking.
ZAHN: They cracked your tooth.
RIGSBY: Yes.
ZAHN: Simply because ...
RIGSBY: Because I am ...
ZAHN: ... you are Muslim.
RIGSBY: Yes. No I am not a Muslim. I'm not a Hindu. I'm not a Christian. I'm a journalist.
ZAHN: So let me ask you this, I mean the statistics aren't very optimistic, if you got close to 1,000 people registering complaints like the two of you that they were attacked simply because someone is putting them in the same framework as Osama bin Laden ...
RIGSBY: They say - according to NYPD Hate Crimes Unit, there have been 200 cases in the city - cases of hate crime since September 11th and last year we had 400 cases in one full year and that's (INAUDIBLE).
ZAHN: Well if nothing else ...
RIGSBY: (INAUDIBLE)
ZAHN: Simply the two of you coming here and describing to us this morning what happened to you might raise the level of awareness about what folks like you confront. We wish you tremendous luck, and you're still working - right?
SINGH: Yes.
ZAHN: (INAUDIBLE) cut back your hours? And do you feel safer today?
SINGH: Yes. These days I feel safer.
ZAHN: Because you've gotten rid of your turban and ...
SINGH: (INAUDIBLE) but this is the turban which I used to wear before (INAUDIBLE) wear the hat. So it's totally different, you know.
ZAHN: I like that hat by the way.
SINGH: Thank you.
ZAHN: Parwenda , thank you very much and Haver , thank you for your thoughts.
RIGSBY: Thank you for having me.
ZAHN: Best of luck to the two of you, appreciate your coming in.
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