US officials racialized Muslims as incapable of democracy while arming their dictators
Evidence
John Foster Dulles, as Eisenhower’s secretary of state, called Nasser and other Arab nationalists like him “pathological” for their suspicion of the West and referred to the nationalist Iranian leader Mohammad Mossadegh as “a wily Oriental.” Eisenhower believed that Arabs were incapable of democratic self-rule. He said: “If you go and live with these Arabs, you will find that they simply cannot understand our ideas of freedom and dignity … They have lived so long under dictatorships of one form or another, how can we expect them to run successfully a free government?” In reality, the United States has consistently supported dictators and repressive regimes that can be relied upon to act in the interests of the West. It has further funded, trained, and armed the military and security forces of its dictatorial allies so as to prevent domestic challenges to their rule. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 368
Categorization
- XREF: Primary-source confirmation that racialized Orientalist discourse about Arab incapacity for self-rule predates 9/11 and is literally the same logic Razack documents in post-9/11 security-state discourse. Eisenhower quote is a citable smoking gun. — connects to: US officials justified backing Arab dictators by deeming Arabs incapable of democratic self-rule — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 368; US presidents racialized Arabs as incapable of understanding freedom; Imperial racism subordinates even allied Muslims to imperial power — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 390 (+8 more)
Broader Connections
- US officials openly framed Arab peoples as incapable of self-rule while backing dictators
#corroborates(0.90) - US presidents racialized Arabs as incapable of understanding freedom
#expands(0.85) - US officials pathologized Arab nationalists as unfit for democracy
#corroborates(0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 207 - Imperial racism subordinates even allied Muslims to imperial power
#expands(0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 390 - The US blamed Islam instead of its own support for authoritarians
#expands(0.75) - American imperialism, Orientalism, coercive assimilation, and White supremacy jointly produce racialized Muslim categories
#expands(0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 80 - US officials blamed Islam rather than Western-backed autocracies for extremism.
#expands(0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 726