Investigating prejudice toward men perceived to be Muslim: cues of foreignness versus phenotype

Abstract

Possible factors in prejudice toward Muslims and those perceived to be Muslims were investigated. We specifically investigated cues of foreignness that may communicate threat. Using a 2 (Complexion: dark vs. light) ¥ 2 (Dress: Middle Eastern vs. Western) ¥ 2 (Name: Allen vs. Mohammed) between-subjects design, we expected cues of foreignness (dress and name) to have a greater impact on perceptions of targets than phenotype (complexion). Participants reviewed portraits of young men varying in the manipulated characteristics and gave their impressions. Generally, complexion did not affect perceptions, but portraits in Middle Eastern dress were rated less positively. There was a name by dress interaction in which Allen in Western dress was rated least negatively. Implications for future research are discussed.

The Implications of Right‐Wing Authoritarianism for Non‐Muslims’ Aggression toward Muslims in the United States

“…For example, attire such as the hijab or keffiyeh demonstrates that the individual belongs to a different culture or religion. Indeed, anti-Muslim prejudice tends to be heightened when Muslim people wear more traditional attire (Brown et al, 2013;Saroglou, Lamkaddem, Van Pachterbeke, & Buxant, 2009).…”

Deracialization, Dissent, and Terrorism in the FBI’s Most Wanted Program

“…Instead, the parental kidnapper is raced as white, while the terrorist is raceless. The difference in their racial categorization is even more striking in this specific comparison because Jaafar wears a turban, which one might expect would racialize someone as nonwhite or as a terrorist quite conclusively in comparison with someone like Al-Munawar, who is not wearing a turban (Brown et al 2013). Furthermore, it is the raceless terrorist who is called “light,” while the white fugitive is called “dark.” In this comparison, skin color and physical markers do less of the work in leading to racial identification than the crime list does.…”

“…Religion, names, crime, and so on can be proxies for race (Husain 2019; Muhammad 2010; Pager 2003). The development of race as a concept coming into the modern era drew on premodern forms of difference along the lines of religion, geography, and civilization (Heng 2011; Mills 1997), all of which still live within “race.” As a result, other factors in racial attribution include gender, color, nationality, ethnicity, name, clothing, and more in a list that is as endless as the bounds of what is racialized in our society (Brown et al 2013; Husain 2019; Mills 1997; Monk 2015).…”

American Muslim men and stigma : the use of religious communities as mechanisms for stigma management.

“…Rana (2011) builds on this argument stating that, "the Muslim is understood not only as a totalized biological body, but also as a cultural and social entity constructed within a number of discursive regimes, including those of terrorism, fundamentalism, patriarchy, sexism, and labor migration" (26). Scholars point to religious signifiers and practices (Selod 2014) as well as ques of foreignness (Brown et. al.…”

“…2013) as markers of this newly conflated racial category. Muslim religious signifiers include but are not limited to the hijab, beards, traditional clothing (primarily the thobe -a long robe worn by Muslim men) names, and phenotypes such as skin tone (Brown et. al.…”