Private citizens surveil hijabi women and recast their dress as un-American

Evidence

Muslim American women who wear the hijab are made to feel like they are oppressed, bad for society, un-­American, and even unattractive. The mentioned interactions reveal that Muslim women are told that the removal of the hijab would be an act of citizenship. Their interactions with private citizens show who wields power in defining who is an American. Private citizens participate in the rearticulation of what it means to be an American. At a time when the nation is engaged in a War on Terror, a Muslim is excluded from this definition. Not only are Muslims criminalized through state surveillance, but private citizens also engage in their surveillance when they observe, monitor, and challenge Muslim American women for participating in their cultural practices because these practices are racialized as anti-­Western and un-­ American. Arab women who could once pass for white, are no longer able to do so when they put on the hijab. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 415

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Private citizens surveil hijab-wearing women and challenge their American identity — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 77; Citizens surveil hijabi women for supposedly violating American values; Private citizens surveil Muslim women for cultural transgression and men for security threats — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 107 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Citizens surveil hijabi women for supposedly violating American values #corroborates (0.90)
• Private citizens surveil Muslim women for cultural transgression and men for security threats #corroborates (0.85) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 107
• Citizen surveillance targets hijab-wearing women publicly but men privately as suspected terrorists #contradicts (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 347
• The oppressor stereotype itself oppresses hijab-wearing women. #expands (0.60)
• The hostile gaze of fellow citizens pressures women to alter their dress. #qualifies (0.60)
• Private citizens conflate Islam with the Middle East, erasing Muslim ethnic diversity #expands (0.50)