Islamophobia fixates a reified Muslim type despite race’s dynamic nature.

Evidence

The process of racializing Muslims involves placing biological and cultural determinism in a contradictory logic purporting that race is immutable and essential but simultaneously mutable and fluid. — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 105 (#expands, via linked claim)

This is not to deny the historical and contemporary specificities and contours of Islamophobic discourse, nor to deny the impact of Islamophobic rhetoric, policy and practice on the lives of British Muslims: quite the opposite. It is, however, to caution against what Meer (2015b) refers to as ‘making a fetish out of words’ and to consider the dangers of focusing too much on the borders of what Islamophobia is rather than what it does – as a form of, and alibi for, contemporary ‘race-making’ (Meer 2015b). Racism has always proven itself to be a multifaceted and malleable force of discrimination, as a form both of categorization and of persecution – what John Solomos and Les Back have termed a ‘scavenger ideology’ (1996). Contemporary Islamophobia builds on, feeds off, transforms and adds to a store of racial, ethnic and religious stereotypes – a ragbag of racist ideas, policies and practices selected according to convenience and wielded against a particularly (if not uniquely) visible and vulnerable community. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 173 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Racializing Muslims holds race as both fixed and fluid — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims: Race and Labor in…, 105; Islam’s racial function shifts with changing Muslim demographics.; Islamophobia functions as an alibi for contemporary race-making — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us…, 173

Broader Connections

• Racializing Muslims holds race as both fixed and fluid #expands (0.92) — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 105
• Islam’s racial function shifts with changing Muslim demographics. #expands (0.82)
• Islamophobia functions as an alibi for contemporary race-making #corroborates (0.78) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 173