Domestic anti-Muslim campaigns needed liberal commentary to reach the mainstream

Evidence

This dimension of Islamophobia blossomed in the United States only at the end of the decade, when mosques and Islamic community centers came under attack from California to New York. A network of right-wing Islamophobes had been attempting to unleash anti-Muslim racism almost since 9/11 through a series of campaigns against Arab professors, Muslim community centers, and schools, but their breakthrough into the public sphere happened only after liberal Islamophobes cleared the way. Building on the media furor around “homegrown terrorism,” President Obama unveiled his “Af-Pak strategy” and announced plans to send more troops to Afghanistan and increase drone strikes on Pakistan. Liberal imperialists and the mainstream media raised the alarm about “terrorists in our midst,” providing the far-right “Islamophobic warriors” with the opening they had been waiting for. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 497

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels Rana’s argument about how liberal-coded national narratives enable racialized targeting, and Selod’s work on citizen surveillance. — connects to: Anti-Islam campaigns can fail to stop a project yet still poison public opinion — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 445; Hillary Clinton’s front-lines rhetoric marginalizes American Muslim political agency — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 709; Liberal pundits combined progressive values with vehement anti-Muslim views. (+6 more)
• SEED: Angle: ‘the liberal clearing-house’ — how mainstream respectable Islamophobia licenses far-right attacks, a two-tier dynamic worth an essay.

Broader Connections

• Liberal reading habits themselves can fabricate Muslim difference #corroborates (0.65)
• Liberal Islamophobia under Obama worsened conditions for Muslims at home and abroad #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 436
• Liberal Islamophobia is racist and imperialist despite its gentler rhetoric #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 430
• Liberal Islamophobia rejects Islam-bashing while enacting policies that target Muslims #expands (0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 583