Muslim inclusion is argued through shared civic trauma and patriotic rootedness, not theology

Evidence

As I watched the live stream of the “Rejecting Islamophobia” symposium, I noted the steady references to “racism” and “the legacy of slavery.” This historical trauma, shared by white and black Americans, was offered as a framework in which to talk about the possibility of Muslim inclusion. The benefits of political participation and coalition building, of shared citizenship, were also extolled. The Arab speakers, most of them immigrants or the children of immigrants, stressed their rootedness in Dearborn, the solidity of its Arab/ Muslim institutions, and their contributions to the larger society, themes that offset their image as a new, separatist, and alien population. Overall, the presentations were more patriotic than religious, and the faith on display was conspicuously ecumenical. Most of the sentiments expressed at the event could have been uttered (or eagerly endorsed) by any civic-minded, liberal, pluralist American, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. Indeed, that seemed to be the point. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 715

Categorization

• XREF: Offers a concrete mechanism for the chapter’s thesis — what repairs belonging is citizenship claims, not defending belief — connecting to the reader’s guiding question about which chapter most relocates the problem to ‘us.’