Ramadan’s assimilationist strategy deliberately deferred naming racism a s secondary concern

Evidence

Tariq Ramadan initially shied away from connecting Islamophobia and racism. His argument for an assimilationist politics for Muslims in the West rests on the idea of including Muslims’ di√erence within Western nations through alliance building and incorporation. As he explains, ”I have consciously decided not to deal specifically with the problems of political security faced by European and American States, or with Islamophobia or social discrimination—not because I think these problems are secondary but because my thinking is based on a higher level” (Ramadan 2004, 6). In more recent writing, he has extended this argument of inclusionary politics and refers to discrimination and structural racism as connected to a process of ”culturalizing” and ”Islamizing” (Ramadan 2009, 75–76). — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 908

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the calculated silences of minority leaders in other assimilationist projects — e.g., Booker T. Washington’s deferral of civil rights concerns.
• QUESTION: Whether Ramadan’s later shift toward naming structural racism tracks an intellectual concession or a strategic repositioning within Western Muslim politics.