Crisis rationalizes discrimination against Arabs and Muslims while condemning it against others

Evidence

The articulated logic is as follows: racism is wrong, except during exceptional times of crisis. The CEO of Seaboard Airlines, the episode’s fictional airline, claims it would not be reasonable to discriminate against African Americans, but it is reasonable to discriminate against Arabs and Arab Americans and against Muslims and Muslim Americans. As is often the case, “Arab,” “Arab American,” “Muslim,” and “Muslim American” are conflated and used interchangeably as if they denote the same identity. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 353

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explicitly flags that Arab, Arab American, Muslim, and Muslim American are routinely conflated as one identity in media discourse.