Sikhamerican attorney deals with racism by ‘turning off radio’

NEWYORK/TRENTON: A day after two radio hosts referred to New Jersey’s attorney general — who is Sikh — as a “turban man”, Gurbir Grewal responded to the remarks.

“I’m a Sikh American. I have 3 daughters. And yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio,” he tweeted on Thursday adding that he’s the 61st attorney general of New Jersey.

The previous day, WKXW-FM hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco made the comments while discussing Grewal’s recent order to suspend marijuana prosecutions in the state.

“You know the attorney general guy? I’m never going to know his name, I’m just gonna say the guy with the turban,” Malloy said.

“Turban man!” Franco said in a sing-song tone. “If it offends you, then don’t wear the turban, man, and I’ll remember your name,” Malloy, said as both the hosts laughed.

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, who had appointed Grewal, strongly condemned the language of the radio hosts, demanding action by the station.

“Outraged by the abhorrent and xenophobic comments mocking @Newjerseyoag on The @Dennisandjudi Show on @nj1015. Hate speech has no place in NJ, and does not belong on our airwaves. Station management must hold the hosts accountable for these intolerant and racist comments,” Murphy tweeted.

The radio station later tweeted that it is aware of the “offensive comments” made by Malloy and Franco during the broadcast. “We have taken immediate action and have taken them off the air until further notice,” it said in the tweet.