“Generation Islam”: Arab American Muslims and Racial Politics after September 11

Abstract

This research draws upon the lived experiences of sixty young adult Muslims living in Los Angeles in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the racialized processes shaping the representation, oppression, and emergent identities of the Muslim diaspora. Historically, Arab American Muslims have occupied a contradictory position within U.S. race relations. They have been designated by the government as categorically white, but simultaneously have been the victims of racism in different institutional arenas. I explore how the War on Terror has shaped the collective and individual racial consciousness of young adult Arab American Muslims. Moreover, I argue that the newest generation of Muslims, designated “Generation Islam” by mainstream media outlets, exhibits a distinguishing feature that older cohorts of Arab American Muslims do not possess: namely, they are more likely to disidentify with whiteness. My research demonstrates how this generation of Arab American Muslims is far more likely than previous generations to situate their racial identity as non-white “racialized” subjects.