Muslim slaves who read Arabic were reclassified as Arabs, superior to Blacks

Evidence

Their Muslim names and attire distinguished them to the extent that some Whites called them “Mohammadens” or “Moors,” whom Whites considered superior to Blacks but nonetheless still heathen. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 572 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The most glaring limitation is my purposeful focus on immigrant Muslims who arrived on US shores after 1965. Although I take into account how the racialization of African American Muslims has shaped the racialization of immigrant Muslims (see chapters 3, 5, and 6), I agree with Sylvia Chan-Malik, and Zain Abdullah that the racialization of African American Muslims is intertwined with the enslavement of Africans, of whom approximately 30 percent were estimated to be Muslim. I also concur with Edward Curtis in his assessment that African American Muslims are racialized as Black first, resulting in their Black identity intersecting with their Muslim identity to create experiences of private and state discrimination uniquely different from those of immigrant Muslims. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 116 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Enslaved Muslims’ literacy threatened white enslavers’ claimed monopoly on knowledge; Islamic emphasis on literacy made enslaved West African Muslims literate in Arabic — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 571; Anti-Muslim racial templates were transferred to justify African slavery — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims: Race and Labor in…, 190 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• White Americans ranked literate Muslims above other Black slaves while still heathenizing them #corroborates (0.95) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 572
• African American Muslims are racialized as Black before being seen as Muslim #complicates (0.83) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 116