Courts disagreed across jurisdictions about whether Arabs were white

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 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Courts constructed whiteness on shifting criteria including religion. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 183; Arabs were classified white for citizenship so they could be distinguished from ineligible Asians; Arabs were legally classified as white in 1943 to distinguish them from ineligible Asians. (+3 more)

Related

• INS granted Arabs citizenship eligibility by classifying them white and separate from Asians. (similarity 0.91)
• Arabs gained whiteness-status in 1943 while Muslims generally remained excluded because Islam signified non-whiteness. (similarity 0.91)
• Arabs were legally classified as white in 1943 to distinguish them from ineligible Asians. (similarity 0.90)
• INS declared Arabs white by shared civilization, reversing court rulings to the contrary (similarity 0.88)
• Whiteness was defined through exclusion of non-black immigrant groups too. (similarity 0.88)
• Courts admitted Arabs to whiteness via cultural contribution discourse, not religion (similarity 0.87)
• Arab Muslims won US citizenship via the Semitic-race argument in the mid-1940s (similarity 0.85)
• INS formally classified Arabs as white via a nationwide instruction in 1943 (similarity 0.84)
• Arabs had to litigate their whiteness to gain US citizenship (similarity 0.84)
• Religion shaped whether courts classified Arab immigrants as White for citizenship (similarity 0.84)
• Same-ethnicity petitioners were declared white in one court but not another (similarity 0.84)
• Islamic identity exceeded skin color in rendering Arabs non-white for citizenship (similarity 0.84)
• Courts treated Islam, not skin color alone, as the disqualifying factor for citizenship (similarity 0.83)
• Arabs were classified white for citizenship so they could be distinguished from ineligible Asians (similarity 0.83)
• Islam was not associated with whiteness, blocking Muslim naturalization (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Arabs were legally classified as white in 1943 to distinguish them from ineligible Asians. #exemplifies (0.80)
• Arabs gained whiteness-status in 1943 while Muslims generally remained excluded because Islam signified non-whiteness. #expands (0.80) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 123
• Arabs were classified white for citizenship so they could be distinguished from ineligible Asians #responds-to (0.70)
• Whiteness by law was defined as Christian, excluding Muslims from citizenship #qualifies (0.50) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 150