Courts constructed whiteness on shifting criteria including religion.

Evidence

The courts had to establish by law whether, for example, a petitioner’s race was to be measured by skin color, facial features, national origin, language, culture, ancestry, the specialization of scientist, [or] popular opinion. Most saliently for immigrants from the Middle East, the courts could also determine whiteness on the basis of religion. American whiteness, therefore, was very much a social construction, endorsed by law and subject to revision. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 183

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the reader’s Ernst thread — race as socio-psychological construction rather than biological fact. — connects to: Whiteness operates as property that can be strategically claimed or disguised. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 73; The link between whiteness, race, and Christianity was founded in the Middle Ages.; Whiteness by law was defined as Christian, excluding Muslims from citizenship — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 150 (+19 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 183

Broader Connections

• A religious identity coded as non-white could legally bar naturalization. #expands (0.70)
• Courts disagreed across jurisdictions about whether Arabs were white #exemplifies (0.60)
• Cultural traits like language, clothing, and religious practice can racialize a group. #expands (0.60)
• Courts racialized Muslim identity using skin color and the one-drop rule. #expands (0.55) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 186
• Whiteness was defined through exclusion of non-black immigrant groups too. #expands (0.55)
• Cultural and religious practices can racialize a body just as skin tone does #expands (0.55) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 89
• Citizenship in America has historically been tied to whiteness and Christianity #complicates (0.50)