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The Racialization of Islam in American Law

Author

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  • Neil Gotanda

Abstract

After 9/11, the “Muslim terrorist†trope altered the American understanding of Islam. This article argues that the Muslim terrorist in our popular culture should not be seen as new but within an established tradition of racializing Asian Americans. The article employs three dimensions of racialization: raced body, racial category, and ascribed subordination. The raced body is the “brown†body of immigrants and descendants of immigrants from North Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Southern Asia. “Muslim†as a racial category has acquired meaning beyond religion and now also describes a racial category: those whose ancestry traces to countries where Islam is significant. Linked to that category are the stereotypes of “terrorist,†“spy,†or “saboteur†—understandings within the tradition of characterizing Asian Americans as permanent, unassimilable foreigners. Inscribing the linked racial category and ascribed subordination of permanent foreignness upon the “brown†raced body is the racialization of Muslims into Muslim terrorists.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Gotanda, 2011. "The Racialization of Islam in American Law," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 637(1), pages 184-195, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:637:y:2011:i:1:p:184-195
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716211408525
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    Cited by:

    1. Aliya Saperstein & Andrew M. Penner & Jessica M. Kizer, 2014. "The Criminal Justice System and the Racialization of Perceptions," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 651(1), pages 104-121, January.

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