My Sikh, Indian-born father emigrated to the United States more than 30 years ago when he was compelled to flee the Sikh-targeted genocide of 1984. Prior to entering the country, he was told that he looked too much like a "terrorist," and was advised to shave his beard and take his turban off.

My father, seeking religious refuge, did as he was instructed.

Twenty-five years later, my brother returned home from a business event in Manhattan, something he was looking forward to for an entire month.

"Somebody called me a terrorist on the train today."

In the wake of anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh attacks increasing after 9/11, these words are not to be taken lightly. Just four days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Sikh American Balbir Singh Sodhi was brutally murdered in the first apparent hate crime after the attacks. The attacks continued and are still prevalent today. A white man was arrested and charged with fatally stabbing a Sikh American senior citizen in California just weeks ago.

Nobody deserves to be targeted and harassed for their religious preferences.

My parents, rightfully fearful for my brother's well-being, decided to have his hair cut and turban removed too. In a country that promises all citizens the freedom of religion and safety from religious persecution, numerous individuals are forced to abandon their religions for their safety. My heart aches for the lives of hundreds of victims claimed by the rise in hate crimes every year, fueled even further by a blatantly xenophobic president. I, too, am afraid for my friends and family that still wear their religious objects in public, everything from hijabs and turbans, to kippahs and bindis.

The day the federal government can promise safety for all religions and ethnicities is the day I will proudly call myself American. Until then, it seems only white Christians are truly safe in this nation.