Those looking for answers in the wake of Sunday’s shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., might recall the words of the African American poet Langston Hughes: “I swear to the Lord I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me.”

Being a Sikh in the United States has never been easy. Although Sikhism is the world’s fifth-largest religion, with about 500,000 followers in the United States, Sikh children are bullied and taunted because of their head coverings. When I was in elementary school in the 1980s, I was regularly shoved into the girls’ bathroom because of my long hair.