Islamophobia has coalesced Muslims into a distinct racial group and Islam into a race.

Evidence

Robinson’s work is a magisterial exploration of race, its evolution from pre-capitalist to capitalist eras, and the Black radical tradition. As noted above, he theorizes that racism applied specifically to Africans produced anti-Black racism to extract labor much as it produced anti-Indian racism in the so-called “jewel in the crown” from which it extracted several trillion dollars. The point is that races reflect the ideological needs of the racist. As such, it stands to reason that new races will coalesce and emerge as part of a complex interaction between racism and a subject population based on a history of being set apart from whiteness. This is what has happened with Islam. The practice of racism, particularized against Muslims as Islamophobia, has given rise to the identity of Muslims as a racial group and Islam as a race. Furthermore, one of the reasons scholars have preferred to refer to Muslims as racialized rather than as members of a race is because the group is heterogenous; many in it already have other ethnic characteristics. Yet surely “Muslim” can be a racial identity because identities based on race are always an amalgam and assemblage of constituent parts for any group. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 61

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is the crux of her racecraft argument: race as always an amalgam, so heterogeneity doesn’t disqualify Muslim racial status.
• XREF: Direct comparator to Khaled Beydoun’s and Aziz’s ‘Racial Muslim’ argument about the legal genealogy of Muslim racialization. — connects to: Islamophobia is an ideology justifying racism, not a Hegelian dialectic. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 46; Islam has functionally become a race in law within the last twenty years — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 34; Islam-as-race emerges only after Muslims coalesce as a racial group — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 110 (+28 more)
• recurring: this claim recurs 3 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Islam itself constitutes a race produced by Islamophobic racecraft. #corroborates (1.00) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 106
• Islamophobia operates as a racial formation, not merely religious prejudice #corroborates (0.95) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 46
• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice #corroborates (0.90)
• Islamophobia operates as entrenched American race politics producing anti-Muslim racism #corroborates (0.90) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 72
• Muslims are racialized as a social group rather than a religious one #corroborates (0.90)
• Orientalism converted Muslim identity from a religion into a race. #corroborates (0.88) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 161
• Islam comes to function as a race through racecraft that erases internal ethnic differences #corroborates (0.85) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 516
• Islamophobia functions as an alibi for contemporary race-making #corroborates (0.85) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 173
• Muslims move down the racial hierarchy rather than becoming a new race #contradicts (0.85)
• Muslim religious identity becomes a racial category through surveillance. #expands (0.80)
• Race and religion are inextricably intertwined in Islamophobic discourse. #corroborates (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 104
• The term Islamophobia understates the racial and political roots of anti-Muslim bias #corroborates (0.80) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 260
• Islamophobia constructs a stigmatized Muslim identity through dehumanizing stereotypes rooted in Orientalism. #expands (0.78) — Goleen Samari, Islamophobia and Public Health in the…, 28
• Muslims are racialized by reframing their religion as a violent ideology. #expands (0.75)
• Islamophobia operates as cultural racism rooted in religion, culture, and ethnicity rather than biology. #qualifies (0.75) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 92