Legal whiteness construction created the Middle East category by separating Syrians from Asia

Evidence

In the Immigration Act of 1917 (known as the Asiatic barred zone act), which prevented immigration from the Asian Pacific region, Syrians were exempted. This “exclusion of Syrians from the Asiatic barred zone helped consolidate [their whiteness]. Thus the legal construction of Syrian whiteness became part of a larger story of their disassociation from Asia and of the creation of a new category, the “Middle East” (which is, in fact, West Asia).” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 241

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the origin of ‘Middle East’ as a legal construction of the US immigration system, which is West Asia.
• XREF: connects to: Syrian immigrants won citizenship by proving their whiteness through Christian faith; Syrian immigrants’ whiteness was legally constructed, creating the ‘Middle East’ as a category; Exemption from the Asiatic barred zone consolidated Syrian legal whiteness (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Syrian immigrants’ whiteness was legally constructed, creating the ‘Middle East’ as a category #corroborates (0.98)
• Arabs were classified white for citizenship so they could be distinguished from ineligible Asians #corroborates (0.90)
• Exemption from the Asiatic barred zone consolidated Syrian legal whiteness #expands (0.85)
• Arabs were legally classified as white in 1943 to distinguish them from ineligible Asians. #expands (0.80)
• Early American courts inconsistently classified Syrians as white for citizenship. #qualifies (0.75) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 89
• Courts disagreed over whether Syrians counted as White for naturalization #qualifies (0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 1428