Citizenship in America has historically been tied to whiteness and Christianity

Evidence

Although Muslim Americans are bona fide citizens, their religious identity induces scrutiny of their citizenship status, patriotism, and belonging. This scrutiny is strongest after national crises, and specifically in the direct aftermath of a terror attack committed by a Muslim culprit. As constitutional law scholar Kenneth Karst writes, “In times of trouble … fears tend to focus on particular groups of cultural outsiders as a source of danger.” This is particularly true for Muslim Americans, whose religious affiliation can negate any legal or material claim to Americanness and hold them out to be threatening interlopers. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 340 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

“[Muslim Americans] may now enjoy nominal citizenship status, but their members are, in fact, afforded less in the way of substantive citizenship than others in society” (30). — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1344 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Free-colored military service justified their claim to Republican citizenship; The link between whiteness, race, and Christianity was founded in the Middle Ages.; Race never functioned as a unifying force in American national identity as religion did (+23 more)

Related

• Citizenship depends on community recognition, not just legal status (similarity 0.87)
• Whiteness by law was defined as Christian, excluding Muslims from citizenship (similarity 0.86)
• A religious identity coded as non-white could legally bar naturalization. (similarity 0.84)
• Muslim citizenship in America is negated by religious identity after crises (similarity 0.84)
• Removing the hijab is framed as an act befitting American citizenship. (similarity 0.83)
• MAGA functioned as a racial plea tied to whiteness as legal citizenship touchstone (similarity 0.83)
• Courts constructed whiteness on shifting criteria including religion. (similarity 0.81)
• Muslim Americans appeared only as hypothetical threat in 1789, not as real persons (similarity 0.81)
• Phenotypic non-Whites are barred from Whiteness even when Christian (similarity 0.81)
• Lighter skin and Christian identity secured citizenship privileges that darker or Muslim Arabs lacked (similarity 0.81)
• Religious identity functions as a racial marker conferring privilege in America. (similarity 0.81)
• Muslim Americans hold nominal but reduced substantive citizenship (similarity 0.80)
• Islamic identity rendered immigrants non-white in citizenship cases regardless of legal test (similarity 0.80)
• Anti-Muslim crisis periods simultaneously empower and marginalize Arab American communities (similarity 0.80)
• Whiteness was the legal prerequisite for US citizenship from 1790 to 1952 (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Muslim citizenship in America is negated by religious identity after crises #exemplifies (0.70) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 340
• Muslim Americans hold nominal but reduced substantive citizenship #qualifies (0.65) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1344
• Categorical whiteness excludes Arabs and Muslims from the benefits of racial remedy in America #complicates (0.60)
• Citizenship depends on community recognition, not just legal status #expands (0.55)
• The Negro and whiteness were invented in Europe through scholarly effort #corroborates (0.50)