Featured Story
Breaking Stereotypes Through Cartoons
From art teacher Haley Wulfman:
Cartoonist Vishavjit Singh recently came to St. Luke’s as part of Visual Arts Week. Singh, a person of Sikh faith whose work confronts questions about stereotyping, held workshops with Middle Schoolers and spoke with the Upper School during a Center for Leadership Lunch & Lead.
Born in the early 1970s, Mr. Singh used autobiographical cartoons to share his journey in finding his identity, and how he came to embrace his Sikh heritage. Wear a turban or grow his hair? To display his faith outwardly? As a young person, he explored many different paths before ultimately deciding to wear the beard and turban, sacred articles of Sikh faith.
“On September 11th, my life changed profoundly,” he shared. Based on his outward appearance, he became the object of threatening stares and was called cruel names. Over the following two weeks, he had to work his job as a software engineer from home as it was unsafe for him to leave. Soon after, he began creating cartoons relating to current events and as a way to explore his experiences.
Mr. Singh shared a number of these cartoons with students. One, a rendition of the New Yorker featuring a turban-wearing police officer, he created in response to learning that police officers in New York City were barred from wearing turbans on the job. Another, a speedy-looking turbaned runner, referred to a Sikh marathon runner who holds the title for the fastest marathon in the over-90 age bracket.
Eventually, his creation of a turbaned Captain America led him to present himself as Sikh Captain America, donning the character’s classic shiny costume and shield. “At first when I was convinced to wear this suit, I thought, ‘superheroes can’t be skinny!’ So I went out and bought pads to put inside the suit. Then, my wife said, ‘If you’re going to do this, you have to do this as YOU,” Mr. Sikh came out as the character for the first time at Comic Con in New York City. “I couldn’t believe it. People were coming up to me, hugging me, wanting to take pictures with me. Even a police officer asked to take a picture with me!”
During a Middle School workshop, Mr. Singh invited students to anonymously write down stereotypes they’ve heard of, that they have for other people, and that they’ve heard about in the news. He then read some of these out loud. “It was amazing to be able to share things that normally we keep to ourselves,” one 6th grader said, describing the experience. “That really surprised me.”
“We all stereotype, every single one of us, myself included, but the important thing is that we become aware that we do it,” Singh shared. “You guys are not labels. You are living, breathing, walking, talking stories.”
Mr. Singh urged: “Don’t judge anyone based on their looks. Instead, ask them, ‘tell me your story.’”
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
