Does Color-Blind Racism apply to Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims in the Global North Diaspora?
Organizer: Danielle Haque, Minnesota State University
Where do Arab/Muslim/South Asian communities fit in the US racial system? More specifically, how does “color-blind racism” affect them? Color-blind racism argues that we are in a post racial era in which race no longer matters, and that racial inequality cannot be fixed through race-based programs. Color-blind racism explains away persistent racial inequities by denying the experiences of communities of color and minimizing the ongoing effects of structural discrimination. Racial formation theorists Omi and Winant argue that color-blind racism is a hegemonic logic of white supremacy that has undermined all of the structural efforts of the civil rights era (e.g., affirmative action) that sought to undo the damages of racism. However, looking at the current experiences of Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians in the US with state policy and public action, is there any way we can say that color-blind racism applies to them? Do their experiences lie inside our outside of dominant theorizing on race in the US? Furthermore, should theorizing on race be limited to what happens inside the borders of the US? Papers on the panel critically address the applicability of dominant race theory and color-blind racism to MENA populations living inside the US and to the actions of US empire. Papers from a range of disciplines are welcome, including literary studies, art history, sociology, political science, and history and may include work on Arabs, South Asians, or Muslims in the United States or the Global North more broadly.
Send 300 word abstracts to Danielle Haque by February 13.: danielle.haque@mnsu.edu
