Islam’s racialization dates to American slavery, not modern immigration debates

Evidence

The view of Islam as a religion of Africans and Asians has been commonplace since the American Revolution. It was never a European religion, and not a religion practiced by white people. From the early history of the United States, with Islam being practiced by slaves, Islam itself has been raced. That racialization is rooted in racial capitalism, in the slave trade, in colonialism, and in the discourses of civilization that set white Europeans apart from all others. The coupling of Islam with race began in early slavery in the United States and colonization in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and continued into the twentieth century in the immigration context. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 148

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: American Muslim identity merges slavery-era and immigrant origins into one racialized type — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 481; Muslim identity in America is socially constructed from legacies of slavery and Orientalism; American Islamophobia stems from slavery and anti-Black racism, not just Orientalism. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 560 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• American racism against Muslims extends back to enslaved Africans #corroborates (0.95) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 223
• American Muslim identity merges slavery-era and immigrant origins into one racialized type #expands (0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 481
• Muslim identity in America is socially constructed from legacies of slavery and Orientalism #corroborates (0.85)
• American Islamophobia stems from slavery and anti-Black racism, not just Orientalism. #corroborates (0.82) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 560
• Theology racialized Muslims as degenerate descendants of the slave Hagar #qualifies (0.82) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 156
• Colonial-era differentiation of Muslims preceded and enabled present-day racialization. #corroborates (0.80) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 112
• Converting to Islam did not shield African Americans from racial classification #expands (0.80)
• Claiming Islam did not let African Americans escape early-twentieth-century racial logic #expands (0.78)
• Anti-Muslim racial templates were transferred to justify African slavery #qualifies (0.75) — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 190