Surveillance targets Muslims while ignoring white supremacist militias

Evidence

One does not need a Ph.D. in sociology or psychology to see that this is an inherently racist behavioral model fraught with double standards. For instance, the same kind of surveillance does not take place in white Christian communities, even though white supremacist terrorist organizations have long existed in the United States. A DHS report released in 2009 cautioned against violence by white supremacist groups: “The threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years. In addition, the historical election of an African American president and the prospect of policy changes are proving to be a driving force for rightwing extremist recruitment and radicalization.” The report also names the recession and economic insecurity as factors that spur the growth of domestic terrorism. One of the key differences between the DHS report and the aforementioned NYPD report is that race, gender, and religion are incidental to the DHS’s analysis. While it speaks about the anti-black, anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and pro-gun politics of white supremacist groups, it fails to make the leap to the conclusion that there is a four-step process of radicalization that begins with a person simply being a white Christian male. Naturally, there is no program to infiltrate white Christian communities to see how these dangerous men eat, worship, play, or shop. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 487

Categorization

• XREF: The double-standard comparison between DHS and NYPD reports directly challenges the ‘threat-neutral’ framing of the War on Terror; connects to Iftikhar’s critique of selective enforcement. — connects to: Muslims are uniquely cast as counterterrorism soldiers while white Americans never are — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 711; Racialized surveillance itself strips Muslims of substantive citizenship — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 658; Surveillance of whole populations weakens democracy while failing to prevent terror (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• The War on Terror racialized Muslim bodies to justify their surveillance #expands (0.80) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 29
• Surveillance justified by religious identity constitutes racialization of Muslims #expands (0.75)
• Racializing Muslims as threats sustains a surveillance state with gendered effects #expands (0.70)
• Muslim religious identity becomes a racial category through surveillance. #expands (0.70)