Muslim American Double Consciousness

Abstract

This article engages in a theoretical discussion and application of Du Boisian double consciousness to understand the formation of the Muslim American self. Du Boisian double consciousness, and its three elements (the Veil, Twoness, and Second Sight) are used to understand phenomenological processes of Muslim American self-formation as being situated within and conditioned by structural contexts of racialization. By drawing on critical scholarship that highlights the operation of the Muslim racial project in contemporary U.S. contexts, I show how double consciousness emerges through the Othering of Muslim Americans at the macro, meso, and micro levels of society, which then defines them as outside of the U.S. national imaginary, and denies them their equal civic status as citizens of the state. By utilizing double consciousness to understand the Muslim American self as it is embedded in racialized U.S. contexts, this article fills a crucial gap in the literature by theoretically expanding on racialized processes of Muslim American identity formation in the racialized contexts of the United States.

“If I Don’t Do It, No One Else Will” Narratives on the Well-Being of Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Daughters

“…Du Bois’ theory on double consciousness states that African Americans view themselves from two perspectives, one being the lens by which they see themselves, while the other is the lens society sees them through (Meer, 2019). Many researchers have expanded this theory beyond race to include other minority groups such as immigrants, women, and religious minorities (Islam, 2020; Pelt-Willis, 2021; Welang, 2018). An integration of Du Bois’ argument and feminist thought expands the basis on which we can examine perceptions and realities as informed by gender manifestations and expectations.…”

“…Du Bois’ veil referred to the color line, a term describing the racial segregation present in post-slavery America. More recently, Islam (2020) has described the veil to be a separation based on “racial meanings of otherness, nationalism, boundary making, denial of citizenship, and a denial of belonging” for Muslim Americans (para 20). The veil is visible to everyone, but the majority group projects their concept of the minority group onto the veil while the minoritized often internalize these images as they navigate self-formation (Itzigsohn & Brown, 2015).…”

Navigating and Countering Everyday Antimuslim Racism: The Case of Muslim Women in Sweden

“…Its objective was to understand how social structures of racism affected those experiencing the oppression. The concept has since been applied to various minority communities’ experiences of oppression including Muslim communities in Europe and North America (Bibi, 2022; Islam, 2020; Meer, 2010).…”

Researching "On and In" Global South Countries

“…An estrangement that the BAME and indigenous individual and the dominant group in global north countries use to define the BAME and the indigenous 'I'. 49 Critical decolonial reflexivity also means acknowledging that the current ways of sensing, thinking, imagining, feeling, believing, being and doing are conditioned and continue to be conditioned by coloniality, irrespective of identity and political registers. 50…”