Ordinary errands became conscious acts of reclaiming American citizenship

Evidence

The act of going to a garage sale was a conscientious attempt to reclaim her right to space. Through this act, she was affirming that she was a part of the fabric of American society. Rather than stay home and hide from society, Zara wanted to show she had every right to be a part of the public sphere because she and her children were American citizens. She also accepted the responsibility of dispelling myths about Islam to her fellow citizens by staying and talking to strangers about it. Zara’s actions were not necessarily the norm in the immediate days and weeks after 9/11. While the immediate response Muslim women had to 9/11 was to lay low out of fear for their safety, in the years since the attacks, many Muslim women have willingly acquired this new responsibility to dismantle the stereotypes of Muslims in public spaces. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 499

Categorization

• XREF: Zara’s garage-sale story is the vivid concrete case; also shows temporal shift from hiding to confronting after the immediate post-9/11 period. — connects to: Muslim Americans hold nominal but reduced substantive citizenship — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1344; American civic holidays shifted from public citizenship to private consumption. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 836; Some hijab-wearing women resist surveillance by reclaiming public space — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 500 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Muslim Americans hold nominal but reduced substantive citizenship #expands (0.60) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1344