Islamophobia may define the twenty-first century as race defined the twentieth.

Evidence

Islamophobia has emerged as the dominant mode of prejudice in contemporary Western societies. In North America and across the nations of Europe, concerns about “the Muslim problem” are central to political debates and policies. As part of the response to international conflicts, acts of terrorism, and state violence in the West itself, the figure of “the Muslim” has come under increased scrutiny. Muslims and Islam have emerged as the focal point of anxieties about citizenship, loyalty, and liberal values. They have been the object of heightened levels of criticism, intolerance, and abuse—their cultures homogenized and vilified and their religion depicted as backward and warlike. The same vitriol has passed into mainstream currency, finding outlets in journalism, film, and television dramas, in political statements, and in the outlaw spaces of the Internet. By 2011, UK government minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi went as far as to declare that Islamophobia seemed to have “passed the dinner-table test” of social respectability, being the only form of prejudice now indulged and approved in the so-called liberal societies of the West. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 15 (#expands, via linked claim)

If there is an explanatory factor that rivals religion in the debate over what drives Islamophobia, it is racism. Islamophobia is not racially blind, nor is it simply a manifestation of older forms of racism rooted in biological inferiority. It is an example of what some scholars have labeled “cultural racism.”cultural racism: hatred and hostility of others based on religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and ethnicity. This form of racism incites hatred and hostility based on religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and ethnic backgrounds. Animosity toward Muslims is expressed in terms of cultural and religious inferiority, with Muslims and Islam labeled as barbaric, violent, uncivilized, and inferior to Western culture and civilization. The presumed insurmountable differences between “Muslim culture” and the West serve as the basis for exclusion and discrimination. The argument of cultural inferiority has gained significant traction in recent decades, in part because many politicians, journalists, and public figures do not see it as racist; they assume that racism must involve overt appeals to skin color or biological inferiority. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 92 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice; The twenty-first century’s defining problem may be integrating Muslims into democratic societies; Islamophobia and racial prejudice are entangled in distinct ways across Western contexts — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 64 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice #expands (0.70)
• Islamophobia has become the dominant prejudice in Western societies #expands (0.70) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 15
• Islamophobia and racial prejudice are entangled in distinct ways across Western contexts #expands (0.60) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 64
• Islamophobia operates as cultural racism rooted in religion, culture, and ethnicity rather than biology. #expands (0.60) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 92
• Islamophobia is systemic and institutionalized, not merely individual prejudice #expands (0.55) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 641
• Islamophobia has material and political causes beyond ignorance or xenophobia #expands (0.55) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 706
• Islamophobia is political rather than religious and must be fought politically #expands (0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 576
• The twenty-first century’s defining problem may be integrating Muslims into democratic societies #qualifies (0.50)
• Liberal Islamophobia is racist and imperialist despite its gentler rhetoric #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 430
• Perceiving Islam as monolithic and static drives most Islamophobia #expands (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 53
• Islamophobia is defined differently by scholars, spanning fear, media violence, racism, gender, and nationalism. #expands (0.50)
• Islamophobia denotes fear, hatred, and hostility toward Muslims and Islam. #expands (0.40) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 31