Oak Creek survivor urges broader prevention, not just resilience, in California commission presentation

Pardeep Singh Kaleka, clinical director at Mental Health America Wisconsin and a survivor of the 2012 Oak Creek Sikh Temple attack, told the California Commission on the State of Hate at its April meeting that effective anti‑hate work must focus on deeper narratives and community supports, not only treating incidents after the fact. "Communities, people should not have to be resilient to survive. People should expect to be protected and be humanized," Kaleka said.

Kaleka recounted losing his father in the Oak Creek attack and described how long‑running racialized narratives — what he called the "brown boogeyman" — depict people of color as dangerous and dehumanize minorities. He told commissioners that those narratives are reinforced by media, schools and political rhetoric and have evolved into mainstream expressions of white supremacist ideology. "The same white supremacist ideology behind Oak Creek seems to become more normalized today," he said.

Kaleka urged the commission to treat prevention as system‑level work. He recommended promoting media literacy, countering online radicalization and building cross‑community relationships. He also emphasized the importance of correct victim identification and accessible reporting: "Sometimes Sikhs don't feel like they can report hate crimes or there's a shame in reporting hate crimes or there's not actual infrastructure to know how to report a hate crime." Puneet Kaur of the Sikh Coalition, speaking during public comment, echoed that point and urged stronger training for first responders after recent misidentification of a Sikh student at San Jose State University.

Commissioners pressed Kaleka on practical responses. Vice Chair Che asked what justice and accountability look like beyond criminal punishment; Kaleka described long‑term processes that redistribute power, rebuild lives and provide restorative supports rather than only punitive measures. Commissioners also raised the risk of tokenizing young people and the need for sustained funding to scale mental‑health supports and safety at houses of worship.

The presentation concluded with calls to expand outreach and resources: Kaleka asked agencies, nonprofits and elected officials to invest in mental‑health capacity, care coordination and community safety rather than treating resilience as a substitute for protection. The commission took no formal action on the presentation but discussed next steps including outreach and potential forum programs that align with his recommendations.