Christianity was the factor that let Armenian immigrants pass as white.

Evidence

It is recognized that in United States v. Cartozian, … decided subsequent to the Thind case, the District Court held an Armenian from Asia Minor eligible to citizenship as a white person. The court there found, however, that the Armenians are a Christian people living in an area close to the European border, who have intermingled and intermarried with Europeans over a period of centuries. Evidence was also presented in that case of a considerable amount of intermarriage of Armenian immigrants to the United States with other racial strains in our population. These facts serve to distinguish the case of the Armenians from that of the Arabians. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 162

Categorization

• XREF: Directly supports the comparative claim that Christian religion triggered whiteness while Islam triggered non-whiteness — the paired contrast to Hassan, strengthening Choudhury’s religion-as-racecraft argument versus Aziz. — connects to: Christianity and European intermarriage qualified Armenians for whiteness that Muslims could not claim — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 162; Religious expansion to Judeo-Christian framing was a precondition for immigrant Whiteness — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 420; Early US naturalization law treated Christian Syrians as White. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 540 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Christianity and European intermarriage qualified Armenians for whiteness that Muslims could not claim #corroborates (0.95) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 162
• Syrian immigrants won citizenship by proving their whiteness through Christian faith #exemplifies (0.95)
• Whiteness by law was defined as Christian, excluding Muslims from citizenship #corroborates (0.92) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 150
• Early US naturalization law treated Christian Syrians as White. #exemplifies (0.90) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 540
• Christianity itself functioned as a core element of legal whiteness #expands (0.90) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 156
• Citizenship in America has historically been tied to whiteness and Christianity #corroborates (0.88)
• Religious assimilation granted Whiteness, but phenotype permanently blocked non-White converts #complicates (0.88)
• Religious expansion to Judeo-Christian framing was a precondition for immigrant Whiteness #corroborates (0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 420
• Arab Christians can be racialized out of whiteness by phenotype and origin #complicates (0.85) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 565
• The link between whiteness, race, and Christianity was founded in the Middle Ages. #expands (0.85)
• Syrian Christians accessed nominal whiteness but remained incompletely white #complicates (0.85) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 717
• European immigrants held an intermediate racial status and were induced to become white #qualifies (0.80) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 40
• Becoming Christian did not gain Black people access to Whiteness. #qualifies (0.80)