The FBI reframed Black religious groups as cults to evade religious protections

Evidence

During World War II, for example, the FBI believed that African American civil rights activists were colluding with the Japanese, which led to mass surveillance of African American dissidents under the code name RACON. To circumvent legal prohibitions against targeting religious groups, the FBI labeled the Nation of Islam and the Moorish Science Temple cults and violent ideologies—the same framing by right-wing Islamophobes in the post-9/11 era whose primary targets are immigrant Muslims. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 599 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The FBI operated a documented program undermining civil rights leaders — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 153; The FBI designated orthodoxy by political loyalty rather than theology — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 235; The FBI surveilled black Muslims as seditious threats more than white Arab immigrants (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• The FBI relabeled Black Muslim groups as cults to dodge religious protections. #expands (0.95) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 599