Arabs gained whiteness-status in 1943 while Muslims generally remained excluded because Islam signified non-whiteness.

Evidence

By 1943, Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) determined that Arabs were white and eligible for citizenship due to having a shared culture and civilization with Western countries. INS relied on the case United States v. Thind (1923) to argue that Arabs were not like Asians, who were ineligible for naturalization. In other words, “the INS view was that Arabs were white and fully eligible for immigration and naturalization benefits (unlike most Asians at the time) and it issued an ‘instruction’ on the matter for INS offices across the nation” (Cainkar 2009: 77). At that point in time, Arabs were racially distinguished from Asians, with their perceived closeness to whiteness allowing them to access citizenship while distancing them from cultures and ethnicities marked as incapable of sharing white European cultural values. What this history reveals is that Muslims had difficulties becoming naturalized citizens because Islam was not associated with whiteness (Gualtieri 2009). — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 123

Categorization

• XREF: Distinguishes Arab ethnicity from Muslim religion — the exact religion-vs-race axis the reader wants to trace through to the surveillance era. — connects to: Non-black Muslims perform anti-black racism to claim proximity to whiteness. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 442; Whiteness by law was defined as Christian, excluding Muslims from citizenship — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 150; Arabs were legally classified as white in 1943 to distinguish them from ineligible Asians. (+16 more)
• QUESTION: Why did the 1943 INS ruling treat Arab Christians as ‘white’ yet the book later shows Muslim Arabs being racialized — what shifts between 1943 and the War on Terror decade?
• recurring: this claim recurs 3 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Arabs were legally classified as white in 1943 to distinguish them from ineligible Asians. #corroborates (0.85)
• Arabs were classified white for citizenship so they could be distinguished from ineligible Asians #corroborates (0.85)
• Muslim identity ejects Arabs from whiteness and strips them of its material benefits #pays-off (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 662
• Muslim Arabs move away from whiteness regardless of actual skin tone #expands (0.70)
• Arabs classified as white lose that status upon wearing the hijab #builds-on (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 201
• Wearing the hijab strips Arab women of their perceived whiteness #exemplifies (0.70) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 145
• Muslim Americans are racialized even when visibly white, so racialization must include cultural traits #expands (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 88
• Religious identity racializes Arab and South Asian Muslims along shared lines #expands (0.65)
• Converting to Islam or wearing the hijab causes loss of whiteness privileges #exemplifies (0.65) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 261
• Lighter skin and Westernized names let some Muslims pass as white #complicates (0.60)
• Muslim names alone can racialize phenotypically white people #exemplifies (0.60) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 91
• Orientalism imagined Muslims as a monolithic Arab or Middle Eastern racial bloc. #expands (0.60) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 161