Liberal opposition to Islamophobia masks complicity in state targeting of Muslims.

Evidence

This is the modus operandi of liberal Islamophobia: to roundly reject Islam-bashing—and then proceed to institute proposals that target and racialize Muslims. When representative Peter King held his McCarthy-style hearings in March 2011 to determine the extent of Muslim radicalization in the United States, he was rightly criticized by liberals. However, that August, when Obama institutionalized this process through his “counter-radicalization” strategy, there was silence. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 622

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• SEED: The contrast between liberal outrage at King’s hearings and silence at Obama’s institutionalized version is a sharp, usable observation for political analysis.

Related

• Liberal Islamophobia rejects blatant rhetoric while instituting the same Muslim racialization policies (similarity 0.95)
• Liberal Islamophobia rejects Islam-bashing while enacting policies that target Muslims (similarity 0.90)
• Liberal rejection of open Islamophobia masks the same racializing policies (similarity 0.89)
• Liberal pundits combined progressive values with vehement anti-Muslim views. (similarity 0.85)
• Liberal Islamophobia condemns Islam-bashing while championing programs that target Muslims (similarity 0.84)
• Liberal Islamophobia under Obama worsened conditions for Muslims at home and abroad (similarity 0.83)
• The reviewer calls ‘somewhat more provocative, and problematic’ the second half of Kumar’s argument that US Islamophobia is a joint project between conservatives and liberals. (similarity 0.83)
• Obama legitimated anti-Muslim sentiment by emphasizing his Christianity rather than rebutting it. (similarity 0.83)
• Domestic anti-Muslim campaigns needed liberal commentary to reach the mainstream (similarity 0.82)
• Combating Islamophobia means opposing bigotry, not idealizing Muslims (similarity 0.82)
• Islamophobia spans the political spectrum and is embedded in empire’s infrastructure (similarity 0.81)
• Counterterrorism rhetoric masks an offensive campaign against Muslims. (similarity 0.81)
• Anti-Muslim racialization is bipartisan and flourished under the Obama administration (similarity 0.81)
• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice (similarity 0.80)
• Liberal Islamophobia is racist and imperialist despite its gentler rhetoric (similarity 0.80)