Symbolic incorporation of Muslims masks state surveillance and suspicion of them.

Evidence

These aggressive approaches to managing Muslim American dissent have been accompanied by simultaneous attempts to “reach out” to Muslims. The administrations of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama have hailed Islam as part of America’s religious fabric, using symbolic incorporation to craft Muslim American citizenship as another resource in the prosecution of US interests both at home and abroad. Muslim Americans are among the approximately 15,000 informants employed by the FBI to identify potential terrorist threats in the United States; they often act as an agent provocateur attempting to catch fellow Muslims in a sting. … In addition, ordinary Muslim Americans are the single greatest source of tips in counterterrorism investigations. They are congratulated for such exemplary work at the same time that the US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), investigates what he claims is a widespread problem of jihadi extremism in the Muslim American community. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 422

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the volume’s framing of statecraft co-opting the tolerated minority — echoes the ‘us vs them’ pivot central to the reader’s project. — connects to: Even model pro-state Muslim collaborators remain permanent police suspects — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 629
• SEED: Essay angle: how ‘we honor your faith’ and ‘you may be a terrorist’ are two faces of one containment strategy — the double-bind of praised surveillance.
• QUESTION: Worth checking: how the Bush and Obama administrations’ outreach rhetoric tracked with actual COINTEL-style monitoring practices.