The show scripts Arab Jewish-passing as a mirror of African American passing

Evidence

The dynamic of historical evocation via stock characters and actors’ filmography is manipulated throughout Sleeper Cell. The episode ”Al-Fatiha” (”The Opening,” also the title of the first chapter of the Quran) introduces viewers to another character, Faris al-Farik, the leader of the sleeper cell. Darwyn is sent by the Librarian (Hall) to a synagogue to meet Farik, who is using the purportedly ideal cover of an American Jew. Farik portrays himself as a model citizen, dressing in fashionable suits and, in his spare time, coaching Little League baseball. He also runs a private security agency, perfect for penetrating potential enemy targets—in this case, locations the sleeper cell will target as sites of mass destruction. … After a first, heated encounter at the synagogue, Farik and Darwyn meet at a doughnut shop, where they discuss their roles in the cell. The encounter opens with a discussion of racial appearance and stereotype: Darwyn: Shouldn’t you be eating a bagel? Farik: Most people from the Middle East look alike, sometimes even to each other. I’ve passed as Persian, Turkish, Coptic Christian, as well as Sephardic Jew. Don’t African Americans have a long history of trying to pass for white? — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 378

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to passing literature and racial formation theory; the bagel/passing exchange parallels discourse on performative whiteness in African American studies.
• QUESTION: Does the passing symmetry the show draws strategically equate radically different racial histories, and is that equation itself a form of flattening?