The Stranger
Wednesday June 6, 2018
by Kelly Kenoyer
American Islamophobia reveals our nation’s long history of prejudice.
American Islamophobia
opens with its author, Khaled A. Beydoun, coming to a tragic
realization: Converting to Islam is a dangerous proposition for anyone
living in the United States.
While visiting Los Angeles, Beydoun learns that his
Uber driver, an undocumented immigrant, is considering converting to
Islam. He agonizes over what to say to the man, who admires his activism
and work as an associate professor of law at the University of Detroit
Mercy.
Beydoun eventually says, “I ask you to think about
whether now is the right time to become a Muslim. Your status already
puts you in a difficult position, and falling victim to Islamophobia
would put you in a more dangerous place.” The driver—already vulnerable
to the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies—risks becoming
doubly maligned if he dares express interest in Islam. So, despite
Beydoun’s devotion to his religion, he turns the other man away.
It’s a commonly held belief that widespread
Islamophobia in the United States began in reaction to the September 11
attacks, and escalated from there, with the Patriot Act, which allowed
the government to spy on US citizens, the Obama administration’s
“Countering Violent Extremism” program, which asked Muslims to act as
spies against one another, and recently with Donald Trump’s hateful
Muslim ban. However, in American Islamophobia, Beydoun explains that the stereotype and accompanying fear of Muslims actually began with the founding of our nation.
Drawing clear lines through US history—from the
Orientalism of the founding fathers to 1995 mainstream media assumptions
that the Oklahoma City bomber was a “Middle Eastern terrorist”—Beydoun
shows that discrimination against Muslims in the United States is as old
as the nation itself.
Beydoun writes in a clean academic style, but American Islamophobia
isn’t dry. There are personal moments, such as when he describes his
youth as a poor kid being raised by a single mother on welfare. He
brings sharp focus to the plight of poor Muslim communities ravaged by
domestic spying and policing.
Those most harmed by these punitive programs are the
poorest Muslim communities of color—like the large Somali enclave in
Minneapolis where middle schoolers are asked to spy on their classmates,
interrupting learning in what should be a safe space.
American Islamophobia is a well-crafted history
of this country’s relationship with Islam and the institutional and
cultural discrimination that defines that relationship. Beydoun’s book
should be read by anyone curious about common Islamophobic
misinformation who wants to become an ally to those facing a unique form
of American discrimination. 