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Washington, DC - Last June, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) announced the filing of a class-action religious discrimination lawsuit by Mr. Sukhbir Channa against Walt Disney Entertainment, Inc. According to the lawsuit, Mr. Channa—a Sikh musician—was denied a job by Disney because of his turban and beard and was told that he did not have “the Disney Look.” At this time, the litigation is underway and in the discovery phase.
One of the byproducts of the lawsuit was a surge in the volume of racist commentary on newspaper websites and other public forums. Much of this commentary expressed violent attitudes toward Sikh Americans and reinforced SALDEF’s belief that hatred and ignorance continue to pose threats to American society.
In the course of analyzing public reactions to the Disney case, SALDEF discovered a magazine article from New York University (NYU) featuring an interview with a Disney spokesperson, who gave an extraordinarily revealing and offensive explanation of the “Disney Look” on behalf of the company. According to Angela Bliss, a Disney spokesperson, “[t]he Disney look is a fresh, clean and approachable look[.]”
“Mr. Channa was told that he did not have the ‘Disney look.’ Based on this NYU article, Disney’s attitude must be that Sikh Americans are unfresh, unclean, and unapproachable,” said Rajbir Singh Datta, National Director of SALDEF. “How is this any different from the commentary posted on the internet by bigots around the country after the lawsuit was filed?”
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