The Racialization of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism in the United States

Field: Social Sciences (Social Sciences)

In this article I posit the "racialization" of religion, a process that begins when certain phenotypical features associated with a group and attached to race in popular discourse become associated with a particular religion or religions. By examining the experiences of Indian Americans—a group made up primarily of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs—I explore the racialization process and show how the racialization of religion exacerbates the "othering" of non-Christian religious groups. The article goes on to examine five major outcomes of the racialization of religion, as illustrated by the experiences of Indian Americans. In particular, I show how the racialization of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism renders those faiths theologically, socially, and morally illegitimate in the popular eye. I thank Jigna Desai, Paul Spickard, Maurianne Adams, Danielle Ziegler, Judith Hudson, and John Bartlett for their comments on earlier drafts Notes 1. The Pluralism Project (www.pluralism.org) lists population statistics from many different sources, including governmental and community-based organizations (See also CitationSmith, 2002). 2. This data was part of the survey by Zogby International, August 2000, Survey commissioned by the American Muslim Council. Information available at http://www.islamfortoday.com/historyusa4.htm. 3. There are two major exceptions: Churches founded by communities of color such as black congregations, Korean or Chinese evangelical Christianity and churches that "contest" national norms, for example Liberation Theology or the Civil Rights Movement. 4. Millennia earlier, people of all skin colors and nationalities were enslaved by the Greeks and Romans—not just Africans (CitationFredrickson, 2002). In those ancient societies, it seems, a salient social distinction was based on the difference between slave and free rather than on phenotype. 5. Some scholars, including CitationBeaman (2003), use the term "Protestant Privilege" rather than "Christian Privilege." Interestingly, this author, a Hindu, and Blumenfeld (in this issue), a Jew, both feel that the correct term to describe the American sociocultural phenomenon is "Christian Privilege." I do not know what religion (if any) Beaman ascribes to, but it may be that the very distinction identified here is itself an example of the dialectical relationship between "self" and "other." 6. The term "American," as I use it herein, represents the dominant culture, which is characterized by norms of white Protestant Christianity but which is comprised of U.S. residents of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Defining the term "American" is particularly vexing in the context of an article like this: On the one hand, it is a term (as it should be) that includes United States residents of all racial and ethnic backgrounds (unless otherwise specified). On the other hand, it is most often used in this work as a counterpoint to the ethnoreligious minority cultures discussed: South Asian Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. In other words, "American" is an adjective that connotes the cultural dominance of individuals and ideas associated with white Protestant Christianity, yet I do not define it to include only Whites or only Christians. 7. On June 26, 1991, a Muslim imam, Siraj Wahhaj of Brooklyn, opened a session of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time. In February of 1992, Imam W. Deen Mohammed of the Chicago-based American Muslim Mission opened a session of the U.S. Senate with prayer, again the first Muslim ever to do so (CitationEck, 2001). 8. Bill Clinton, in 1996, was the first U.S. president to sign a proclamation commemorating that year's celebration of Eid ul Fitr and invited Muslims to the White House to celebrate. Several states' governors now regularly issue proclamations concerning Ramadan. President Clinton issued a proclamation on the birthday of the Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, saying, "Religious pluralism in our nation is bringing us together in new and powerful way." (Citation San Diego Union Tribune, 1998) 9. The interaction between Christianity and American culture is so profound that it flows in both directions: Church attendance on Thanksgiving, a history-based holiday without Biblical reference, is officially recommended (but not mandated) by the Catholic Church. These cultural phenomena are reflected in the individual conduct, vocabulary, and assumptions of most Americans. 10. A clandestine group that is allied with a foreign enemy force 11. CitationSaid (1996) claims there have been counterparts in "similar knowledges" constructed about Native Americans and Africans where there is a chronic tendency to deny, suppress, or distort their systems of thought in order to maintain the fiction of scholarly disinterest. In other words, Said presents his work not only as an examination of European attitudes to Islam and the Arabs but also as a model for analysis of all Western "discourses on the Other." 12. I acknowledge that this sentence contains a generalization. It should be noted that while most American Blacks are Christian, many are not, and that while most American Jews are white, many are not. In popular discourse, I would argue, the parallel stands. 13. Additionally, the gendering of the racialization of religion is different for the three different faiths. (See Zine, this issue). 14. For a discussion of how media images of Islam affected the identity development of young Indian Americans, see CitationJoshi (2006). 15. Here it is important to acknowledge a gender component to the phenomenon of religious oppression; for example, black or white Muslim women who wear purdah (veil) or hijab (head scarf) may be targets because of this non-racial marker. I would posit that even this is less likely, however, because it is really the brown skin that "sticks out" in the American mind as a representation of religious difference. 16. An analogy should be noted here to Fanon's critique of "the concept of negritude.Citation" Fanon (1968) lamented the "historical necessity" for African intellectuals "to racialize their claims and to speak more of African culture than of national culture." By allowing European-imposed racial categories to erase the national and linguistic distinctions within Africa, these writers bolstered a similar race-based obscuring of intraracial diversity. 17. The Abrahamic faiths—those that invoke the story and lineage of Abraham are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 18. Incident reports available at www.sikhcoalition.org. See also CitationNational Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (2002) Backlash Final Report. 19. The proper name for this organization is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). 20. One could also argue that the utilization of the term "terrorist" enables the facile dehumanization of the targets of that pejorative by the press and the public. The inherently racist and Christian-centric view of the United States media and public can thus be seen in their powerful need to differentiate between such accused terrorists, and those belonging to the dominant faith and race of the United States, by coupling the words "Muslim" and "terrorist." 21. The Five Ks are the five physical symbols worn by Sikhs who have been initiated into the Khalsa, a central grouping of orthodox Sikhs. The five Ks are Kesh (uncut hair), Kara (a steel bracelet), Kanga (a wooden comb), Kaccha (cotton underwear), Kirpan (steel sword). 22. Accent, of course, raises the issue of immigrant status as well as "race" as an aggravating factor in the victimization of these individuals. Considering this issue would be beyond the scope of the present work, but is worthy of further study. 23. The murdered man, Navroze Mody, was a Zorastrian or "Parsi." The other victim, whose attack left him with permanent brain damage, is a Hindu man. 24. There is even a word for such a test: Shibboleth. See Judges 12:6 (KJV). 25. The term "redlining". refers to once-legal and -written (now illegal and unwritten) policies that functioned to maintain racial separation and white economic advantage, such as by denying mortgage loans to Blacks and residents of "black" neighborhoods, real estate rental and sales policies that discouraged racial integration, and racially-restrictive covenants.