Anti-racist surface messaging in media can still legitimize torture of Muslims.

Evidence

Alsultany’s analysis notes that although shows like 24 may signal that racism is wrong, the plots communicate to American audiences that torturing Muslims is necessary to protect the United States. I argue that in order for the majority of Americans who believe in religious freedom to accept this narrative, Americans must first perceive Islam as a violent political ideology. As such, profiling and targeting Muslims in counterterrorism efforts is not considered un-American or bigoted. To the contrary, it is viewed as smart national security. This divisive narrative is aggressively propagated by the Islamophobia industry and their Former Racial Muslim spokespersons. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 769

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle: how ‘moderate’ anti-racist framing in entertainment functions as cover for violence — the paradox that acknowledging racism while endorsing torture is more persuasive than outright bigotry.
• XREF: Connects to theories of liberal racism and ‘racism without racists’ (Bonilla-Silva), plus Gramscian hegemony on how dominant narratives get naturalized. — connects to: Sympathetic multicultural TV portrayals can still legitimate racist counterterrorism policies.