Religious identity can be racialized when signifiers trigger profiling

Evidence

The surveillance of beauty is another way that Muslim American women who wear the hijab are surveilled for their cultural practices. Whiteness has become a marker of beauty and privilege both in the United States as well as in countries that make up the southern hemisphere, such as India (Hunter 2011). This is evidenced by the increased interest and use of skin lightening creams both in the United States and internationally. Hunter (2011) refers to “racial capital” as a material benefit people possess based on their skin tone. In a racialized society, the lighter one’s skin tone, the more access one has to economic resources such as jobs or social networks (Glenn 2009; Hunter 2011). Muslim women who wear the hijab were told wearing it made them ugly; they are also racialized for their beauty. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 292 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Airport profiling collapses religious identity and racial appearance into a single target — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 65; Misrecognition of minority identities inflicts real damage on those so mirrored.; Religious minorities become politically suspect when religion ties to national identity (+44 more)

Related

• Surveillance targets a Muslim name, not religious belief, making it racial discrimination (similarity 0.94)
• Racial profiling extends to religious signifiers like Muslim names and clothing. (similarity 0.89)
• Airport profiling collapses religious identity and racial appearance into a single target (similarity 0.88)
• Muslim religious identity becomes a racial category through surveillance. (similarity 0.88)
• The hijab functions like skin tone by marking bodies as racial others (similarity 0.87)
• The hijab functions as a racial marker that triggers airport surveillance (similarity 0.87)
• Muslim names alone can racialize phenotypically white people (similarity 0.86)
• The hijab rather than skin tone triggers racializing surveillance of Muslim women (similarity 0.86)
• Surveillance targets Muslim Americans based on religious identity regardless of citizenship (similarity 0.86)
• Surveillance operates differently on Muslim men and women through distinct mechanisms (similarity 0.86)
• Racialized religious signifiers trigger hostile surveillance interactions with state and citizens (similarity 0.86)
• Surveillance derives from country-of-origin priority lists that racialize Muslim identity (similarity 0.86)
• Muslim men can be racialized by ethnicity alone, not only by disclosed religion (similarity 0.85)
• US surveillance systematically targets select bodies using racial cues (similarity 0.85)
• The hijab triggers routine searches while skin tone only does in crises (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• The hijab rather than skin tone triggers racializing surveillance of Muslim women #exemplifies (0.85) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 292
• Surveillance justified by religious identity constitutes racialization of Muslims #corroborates (0.80)
• Even watchlisted Muslims face additional appearance-based profiling #exemplifies (0.80)
• Surveillance targets a Muslim name, not religious belief, making it racial discrimination #exemplifies (0.75)
• Racializing Muslims as threats sustains a surveillance state with gendered effects #expands (0.70)
• Religious identity replaced ethnicity as the marker making Muslim Americans seen as anti-American #corroborates (0.70)
• Surveillance derives from country-of-origin priority lists that racialize Muslim identity #expands (0.60)