Islamophobia has produced Muslims as a racial group and Islam as a race

Evidence

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

• XREF: This is the argument to compare directly against Aziz’s ‘Racial Muslim’ historical thesis — both claim Muslim racialization but differ on mechanism and genealogy. — connects to: Islam functions as a racializing vehicle that fuses religion into racial difference. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 246; Islamophobia must be analyzed within general racism tied to capitalism — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 46; Islamophobia is best understood as an ideology akin to racism — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 910 (+15 more)
• SEED: Comparative analysis of Choudhury’s racecraft argument vs. Aziz’s historical-legal argument for treating Islam as race in law.
• QUESTION: How does her racecraft-based claim of ‘new races coalescing’ resolve the heterogeneity objection without lapsing into the essentialism she critiques in the next paragraph?

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia has coalesced Muslims into a distinct racial group and Islam into a race. #corroborates (0.97) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 61
• Islamophobia operates as a racial formation, not merely religious prejudice #expands (0.90) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 46
• Muslims are racialized as a social group rather than a religious one #corroborates (0.88)
• Islamophobia is best understood as an ideology akin to racism #corroborates (0.85) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 910
• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice #corroborates (0.85)
• Islamophobia operates as entrenched American race politics producing anti-Muslim racism #exemplifies (0.82) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 72
• Islam is ideologically expelled from religion itself in its racialization #expands (0.82) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 872
• Islamophobia functions as an alibi for contemporary race-making #expands (0.80) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 173
• The term Islamophobia understates the racial and political roots of anti-Muslim bias #corroborates (0.79) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 260
• European colonial racial practice of differentiating Islam preceded and enabled modern Islamophobia #expands (0.78)
• Separating Islamophobia as ideology from racism undermines anti-racist struggle #corroborates (0.78) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 159
• Racism has empirical grounding that Islamophobia still lacks #complicates (0.77) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 789
• Islamophobia framing individualizes prejudice and obscures racial hierarchy #expands (0.76)
• Four conceptual moves permit the de-racialization of Islamophobia #qualifies (0.76) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 165
• Islamophobia and racial prejudice are entangled in distinct ways across Western contexts #qualifies (0.75) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 64