Liberal responses to the Ground Zero Mosque controversy tacitly endorsed collective Muslim blame

Evidence

The Ground Zero Mosque controversy demonstrated this dynamic at work. In the context of a Far Right attack using language that harks back to the Crusades, the best arguments from the political class were weak defenses of religious freedom. Instead of taking a principled anti-racist position that states that Muslims are no more to blame for the events of 9/11 than Christians are for the violence of Christian fundamentalists, the liberal establishment chose to question the location of the proposed Islamic center. While less blatant than the rabid Islamophobes who were accusing Muslims of “triumphalism,” such an argument tacitly endorsed collective blame on all Muslims for the attacks on the Twin Towers. Obama further chose to counter the Far Right, raising the specter of suicide bombing, thereby justifying his own security measures. Such “indirect securitization,” however, also essentializes and homogenizes Muslims. Liberal racism of this sort then feeds right-wing conspiracy theories. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 721

Categorization

• XREF: The locating-question / indirect-securitization move echoes Razack on ‘reasonable accommodation’ debates — liberals policing Muslim presence through procedural rather than principled objections. — connects to: The mosque debate ran on collective Muslim blame across both racist and liberal framings.; Framing Muslim silence as complicity extends collective blame to all Muslims; Liberal defenses of Muslims feed rather than block right-wing conspiracy theories — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 733 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Framing Muslim silence as complicity extends collective blame to all Muslims #expands (0.92)
• Liberal defenses of Muslims feed rather than block right-wing conspiracy theories #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 733
• Even secular Muslims are held morally responsible for attacks by co-religionists #expands (0.85) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 285
• Liberal Islamophobia legitimizes and amplifies right-wing anti-Muslim conspiracy theories #expands (0.80)
• The moderate-Muslim trope blames all Muslims for Islamophobia #expands (0.78)