Muslim racialization merges learned cultural traits with bodily essentialism

Evidence

My use of racialization adopts the definition proffered by Robert Miles: “a dialectical process by which meaning is attributed to particular biological features of human beings, as a result of which individuals may be assigned to a general category of persons which reproduces itself biologically.” Sets of characteristics viewed as inherent to members of a group because of their physical or cultural traits are consequently ascribed to them. Put another way, when a religion is racialized, the religious beliefs and practices of the adherents are associated with cultural traits, which in turn are surrogates for biological traits. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 130 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

There is also room to understand that race is not simply about skin tone; culture can also race bodies. Garner and Selod argue, “The process of racialization entails ascribing sets of characteristics viewed as inherent to members of a group because of their physical or cultural traits. These are not limited to skin tone or pigmentation, but include a myriad of attributes including cultural traits such as language, clothing, and religious practices” (2015: 4). This targeting of cultural attributes and practices as racialized markers of difference is especially salient in the case of Muslims in America. Furthermore, culture is often gendered. For us to truly uncover how bodies acquire racial meaning, it is important to understand how the process of racialization is gendered and has gendered consequences. For example, religious practices, such as gender segregation in mosques, are treated as evidence of the misogyny of Muslim men rather than understood within the context of religious doctrine. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 89 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Surveillance of culture is racialized when cultural practices are essentialized as innate to Muslims, subjecting them to intense scrutiny. For example, any abuse that Muslim women experience at the hands of Muslim men is reduced to religious cultural values perpetuated by Islam. The Taliban’s treatment of women in Afghanistan is an example of this culturally fueled racism. Muslim women were constructed as in need of saving from Muslim men, which in turn justified the invasion of Afghanistan (Razack 2008 Abu-Lughod 2013). Another example of this is the misconception that Muslim women are forced to wear the hijab. Private citizens chastise Muslim American women who wear the hijab because for them it represents subservience to patriarchy, rather than being understood as a choice. Wearing the hijab is treated as a cultural aberration to American societal values and individuals who wear it are understood as antimodern and antifeminist. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 274 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The moment of being mistaken for Muslim is a direct lesson in racialization’s power; Bodily and cultural notions of race developed together from the start — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 125; Colonial-era science transformed Muslims into a fixed racialized type — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 180 (+14 more)

Broader Connections

• When religion is racialized, cultural traits serve as surrogates for biology #corroborates (0.94) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 130
• Cultural and religious practices can racialize a body just as skin tone does #corroborates (0.93) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 89
• Cultural practices become racialized when they are essentialized as innate to Muslims #expands (0.92) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 274
• Muslim racialization into Whiteness depends on phenotype and skin color #complicates (0.78)
• Racializing Muslims holds race as both fixed and fluid #complicates (0.75) — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 105