Keeping You In A Stereotype: I’m Still Racist and more!

One of the very first things I did when I moved to Casablanca was buy a street map. The in-laws, kindly, suggested that I not actually read it in the street, because–you know–it would make me look more like a tourist and thereby make me more susceptible to unwanted attention. So last week when I saw a young couple reading a map together on a corner, I took notice of them and their touristy ways. Then I wondered if maybe they were Moroccan (yes, I’m a bit of a lookie-lou) and thought that he could probably pass, but even though there are people here of all shades, she just looked too European and then they were out of sight and out of mind.

Just a few streets down–wow– I saw another couple and a map! I’ve never seen people reading maps on the street before and now two in a row! But this time, the first thing that “innocently” popped into my mind was “prostitute.” Sit with that a second.

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There are various rumors and urban legends about prostitution here in Morocco. There are rural areas that are reputed to be known for having many prostitutes. There are rumors about wealthy Arabs touring the country for solely for the purpose of soliciting. Then there is the rumor about sub-Saharan women (read Black) coming to Morocco to prostitute.

The couple on the corner was a Black woman–probably not Moroccan because she had extensions and Moroccan women don’t generally have them–and the man was a chubby white guy who was a little older than her. It is very likely that this was another European or maybe American or whatever couple–maybe not even a bonafide couple–but what obviously left an impression in my head was the rumor–and stereotype–that Black women come here to prostitute themselves.

I can already hear the skeptics, supporting me and my racist thinking. Whether or not the rumor is true is not the point and comments should not address that aspect, because that is derailing. I can also hear my/your inner racist demanding “Well, so what?” It’s not like I said anything or did anything. But I could have had I been in a position to interact with them. It could have been something as uncontrollable as a questioning look to a more “knowing” dirty look, shake of the head, click of the tongue, snide comment and so on. I feel it’s safe to say that if this couple goes about as a couple at all, it is likely that someone has acted on either that specific stereotype or some related trope.

I’m sure that I have acted on a stereotype or racist idea before. One isn’t immediately coming to mind, but being in Morocco I know that I have had quite a few Orientalist thoughts pop to the front of my brain and I must have acted on them somehow. Perhaps I am more inclined to act on them when they remain subconscious, but I am not sure and that is why I keep trying to recognize my isms when I notice them–so that I can correct myself.

Lately, a frequent ism I see popping up in my mind is my ableism. I’m not very well versed in ableism at all and have only just recently begun to notice my own ableism. It usually pops up regarding mental health. For instance, this weekend I was reading about this medical condition that may be a physical condition, but is often thought to be a mental disorder. I read a statement from a woman who says that it is a physical condition and she sufferers from it. Now, I am completely unsure about whether this condition is “real” or not, but because this woman is a famous singer from the sixties my brain did this super fast strawman/Rochard thing that looked like–”singer from sixties/must be burnt out stoner/therefore crazy.” This isn’t the first time I have noticed myself dismiss someone or their opinion based on a bias towards mental illness/disability.

Logically I know this is ridiculous, but since I have “caught” myself thinking this way I must–on some level–either believe or (hopefully) do some sort of auto-regurgitation of the ism ideas which I have been indoctrinated with–both the idea that Black women are “hotter” and more sexually promiscuous (again, I get that is all very conflated and wrong–that is the stereotype) and that people with a mental disorder/illness are not as accountable as say–me. Sheesh. That’s some ugly stuff.  As difficult as it is for me to write about these things, I am really thankful that I am beginning to “see” them more clearly.

Anyway, for now, let’s consider why it is so important to recognize these little racist (and other ist) thoughts that surface through from my/our unconsciousness.

 

Although they may appear like insignificant slights, or banal and trivial in nature, studies reveal that racial microaggressions [racial transgressions] have powerful detrimental consequences to people of color. They have been found to: (a) assail the mental health of recipients, (b) create a hostile and invalidating work or campus climate, (c) perpetuate stereotype threat, (d) create physical health problems, (e) saturate the broader society with cues that signal devaluation of social group identities, (f) lower work productivity and problem solving abilities, and (g) be partially responsible for creating inequities in education, employment and health care.

Acting on stereotypes in anyway hurts people in many ways. And again, we can’t change our behavior unless we identify it, so please don’t tell me that I’m not racist. Go identify some of your own isms. Further reading:

A brief history of how white people created and maintain the Over-Sexualized Black Woman trope aka Jezebel,The Jezebel Stereotype at the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia

Historically, White women, as a category, were portrayed as models of self-respect, self-control, and modesty – even sexual purity, but Black women were often portrayed as innately promiscuous, even predatory.

An explanation of how well-meaning white folks (and others) unknowingly commit racial transgressions all.the.time.  Racial Microagressions in Everyday Life

In our 8-year research at Teachers College, Columbia University, we have found that these racial microaggressions may on the surface, appear like a compliment or seem quite innocent and harmless, but nevertheless, they contain what we call demeaning meta-communications or hidden messages.

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White Privilege Working Hard for Me

I want to share a couple of personal instances when I have been aware of white privilege working hard for me. There is still so much denial about privilege in general and some folks who believe white privilege/subtle racism may still be around but aren’t able to see it in their own lives because they are poor or wear a hijab or whatever else impedes them from accessing more privilege. So here’s a few times when long before I knew the term white privilege, I knew that I was getting something just because I was white. And I insist that other people are also aware of these of instances when they see white privilege working for them, but it is just a huge no-no for us to talk about. After all, if we talk about it then we will lose something so dear and easy to have and we may have to do something not so easy and agreeable to change the problem. So, here we go.

When I was about 20 years old I was already burnt out on roommate drama and was searching for a studio of my own. I was living in the culturally diverse, though economically challenged,  Tenderloin district of San Francisco and was looking at places just a few blocks away from my current rental. I made an appointment to see a studio on the back of my own block and when I arrived I found that another potential tenant was also viewing the spot. He was at least a decade and half older than me, dressed better than my thrifting-art-student-self, and had a slight accent as he was Vietnamese. I got a little nervous about my competition.

It was very likely that he made more money than I did, even though our applications might not reveal that and I felt sure that he was probably more responsible than I was and therefore a more desirable tenant. But I also felt that the white manager might suspect, like I did, that the man didn’t want the apartment just for himself, as he was saying, it seemed unlikely that a middle-aged Vietnamese man would be living alone. He lives in a stereotype in which it is assumed that he will either live with a big extended family or with a bunch of other single immigrant men. Conversely, it is known that most single young people need parents or roommates to afford the cost of living, but white girls are given a “pass” by other whites who will believe the white girl’s incongruity over a person of color’s statement. By being a young, nice-looking white girl, I live in a bubble of “positive stereotype:”

A “positive stereotype” is any generalized belief about your gender, race, ethnic, class etc group that is positive, rather than negative. So for example, both the beliefs that Asians are intrinsically spiritual, (please see the Buddha of Suburbia) or that white women are docile, are positive stereotypes.

The Tenderloin had much fewer white apartment seekers those days and unlike looking for a place a few blocks up, I felt I had a strong lead against the competition. I had an inherent feeling that I would get the place even though he was probably more deserving. And that feeling stems from having previously benefitted—in unspoken ways—from white privilege and knowing that it was there for me.

I got the apartment. Now, we should all know that undue biases are unethical, but here is how undue biases are illogical. I didn’t make enough money to live in that fabulous studio and moved out soon enough (rather than being a “good” long term tenant) having used the deposit for the last month’s rent. And I didn’t live there alone like I said that I would. I had a few friends living there with me over the months that I rented the large studio and I’m sure we racked up more than one person’s share of water and gas usage, which was included in the rent. One friend did some damage to the built-in bookcase and another burnt a huge, iron-shaped hole in the middle of the rug—which would have been covered by the deposit, but again that was wrongfully used for rent. These are things mature people generally don’t do. A wise manager would have checked out our applications and maybe he would have been ageist in his bias, but renting to me just because I was white—not a win/win situation. And really, if he had checked my rental references, well. . . .my only defense is that I was young.

Another example. At about 22 years old I was taking Amtrak across the US from Oakland to New York. Somewhere along the way two sheriffs entered the car I was seated in and an announcement was made that they would be randomly searching people as we were crossing some state’s line. It is unclear to me what they were looking for, but it was stated that it was “random.” Although I have never considered myself as such, twice during this journey I was described as a “hippy.” Maybe it was the vintage suede jacket or maybe the army backpack, but whatever it was other people thought made me look like a hippy, being called such was one reason that I was very nervous about these searches. The other reason was that I had illegal-to-transport-over-statelines stuff in said backpack nestled at my feet. No need to worry for young white girl though. The sheriffs’ first random search was with the two non-descript African American young men seated a few rows further into the car from me. By non-descript, I mean they didn’t look “hippy” or “hood” or anything else that would draw attention to them. They were just young, male and black. After spending sometime going through their personal items, the sheriffs moved down the car and out of my sight. Again, as a problem with racism, common sense flew out the window and the hippy girl from San Francisco who was a bail-needing-guarantee was passed by—because she was white.

Maybe some people will deny these things happened because I am white, but others may see the truth here and question “what are we supposed to do about?” Should I have bowed out of the apartment or jumped up and called to the sheriffs “Pick me! Pick me!”? That’s a hard thing to consider isn’t it?

A few things that I am doing to stop contributing to racism and injustice is 1) Know thyself. Be aware of my own indoctrinated racist and other biased ideas. If you are a person who is striving to improve yourself, than you should see learning about your own biases as work to improve yourself. Undo some of the wrongful/hateful things you were intentionally or unintentionally taught by family, peers, educators, media and so on. 2) Don’t contribute to injustice. When you are in a position of power (such as hiring someone or similar) work hard against your own and others’ unspoken biases. Choose the right person. 3) Educate yourself about how these injustices happen and how you can stop creating injustice at your own hands. 4) Let’s talk about the unspoken. Tell me about a time when you saw your privilege working for you. Let’s put an image to the seemingly elusiveness of racist situations.

Excellent further reading:  “Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life”

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Inter-Racial Distrust and the White Muslim

One of my prompts for topic consideration in the White Privilege and The Ummah Carnival was not well received, actually it was the only topic scoffed. I said:

Maintaining or discarding White American cultural norms. Fact Observation: Many white people are not trustworthy and they are arrogant—does that change or remain when we become Muslim?

I admit my word choice there was not stellar. However, the fact is, brace yourself, there does exist (with statistics and research to back it) a generalization for many people of color to distrust whites.  And vice versa. In the prologue of her book Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education, MacArthur award winner Danielle Allen explains the dynamics of inter-racial distrust and cites a “2002 statistic that says that only 35 percent of Americans think people can be trusted.” And the same statistics cite that “African Americans are even less trusting.” But, what I am really trying to keep the focus on is white Muslim accomplice (residual from jilhaliya), so let’s look at why we may be nontrusting of other Muslims, as well as our own untrustworthy behaviors and how I (and others) see arrogance as related to this issue.

If you are a white Muslim and you don’t hold very many Muslims of color close to your heart, you don’t talk to many other than at the masjid for a couple hours a week, a month or a year–why do you suppose that is? And if Muslims of color are not beating down your door (other than to marry you) to befriend you–why do you suppose that is?

The lovefest that many of us converts thought was going to happen after we said shahahda did not happen. Many of our jilhaliya baggage remains, both individually and culturally. Often, even when we insist that we are free of such baggage–yet can easily see it on other people–there is subtle, unconscious stuff happening that we just don’t know about.

In a cheesy titled article from way back  in pre-Obama 2002, “Why Can’t We Just Get Along? Interpersonal Biases and Interracial Distrust” researchers Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami, Kerry, Hudson and Gordon ”examine how interpersonal biases can contribute to these different perspectives [of white Americans and Black Americans] and ultimately to interracial distrust that can undermine race relations.” Their studies and experiments kept the focus on whites’ contribution to the problem, “In particular, we propose that there are four aspects of contemporary prejudices held by Whites toward Blacks in the United States that contribute to the divergence of perceptions and interracial distrust in the United States today.” They also acknowledged that these white prejudices extended beyond blacks to other minorities:

• (a) Contemporary racism among Whites is subtle
• (b) these racial biases are often unintentional and unconscious
• (c) these biases influence the perceptions that Whites and Blacks have of these same behaviors or events, and
• (d) these racial biases have different consequences on the outcomes for Blacks and Whites.

The researchers explain how the subtleties of Aversive Racism play out, and it completely mirrors what we see in the Ummah. Firstly, racism is now illegal in the US, so no (reasonable) person will admit to it, and also white Americans have adopted egalitarian values and therefore believe that they are not a minutia prejudice:

egalitarian {adjective} – asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people, esp. in political, economic, or social life.

Sounds like the Muslims right? We say we are all equal (period).

I am one of those folks who grew-up truly believing that racism no longer existed (except for maybe in the south) because that was what I was told by my white parents, mostly white educators and white dominated media. So when I saw and read about racism within the Ummah, I pointed fingers, but not so much at African Americans, more so at born Muslims. Again, the Orientalist in me unconciously reared her head. Those same folks who taught me racism was extinct, also taught me that the Muslim Middle East is inferior to my West.

The study asserts that Whites have “feelings of anxiety and uneasiness” about blacks. Elsewhere I have read that whites can be so fearful of being called ”racist” they simply won’t engage with blacks or other poc, to the point of not looking them in the eye! The Dovidio & Co article explains that:

“Because aversive racists consciously endorse egalitarian values and deny their negative feelings about Blacks, they will not discriminate directly and openly in ways that can be attributed to racism. However, because of their negative feelings, they will discriminate, often unintentionally, when their behavior can be justified on the basis of some factor other than race (e.g., questionable qualifications for a position).”

Again, I ask you, how many Muslims of color do you hold close to your heart? Have over for dinner? Call to check on regularly? Visit while sick? Give salams to? I don’t want to hear that they don’t do it either, we are looking at us. We are supposed to make excuses for others, but making excuses for ourselves is one of the subtle ways aversive racism works:

 ”[Whites'] behavior can be justified on the basis of some factor other than race.”

When I questioned the cut-off point with which to make excuses for my white sisters, I took a little flak for my observation:

“I did notice a pattern amongst a few of my white sisters to say they would do stuff and then “flake.” But really the untrustworthiness runs much deeper than just hypocritical flaking . . . the way I see it as related is that white folks just don’t call each other out for it. They ‘forgive’ each other, but are less ‘forgiving’ of people of color. Generalizations based on my observations, that’s all I got.”

So it may be absolutely unrelated that I have been repeatedly flaked on and had unconsummated invitations extended to me by white sisters, and perhaps nearly everybody does this — repeatedly? And Allhualim what was the intention with each individual instance, but let’s remember why flakiness can be so detrimental:

Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0112:

It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him) said: Three are the signs of a hypocrite: when he spoke he told a lie, when he made a promise he acted treacherously against it, when he was trusted he betrayed.

I threw my “flakiness hypothesis” out there after reading Jamerican’s observations on White Privilege and Office Culture:

“True story: At my previous job, I was told during a performance evaluation that my response to requests is often negative. When I asked for an example my supervisor mentioned a time when she asked me to attend a function that was on the other side of town. My husband at the time and I only had one car which he generally used because his job was further away than mine. (My supervisor knew this). Anyhow, when she asked me to attend the function I told her that I would not be able to because I did not have transportation. Apparently, I was supposed to lie and tell her that I would see if I could arrange a ride. Since I didn’t do that my response was considered to be negative. (After some time I noticed that my White co-workers, no matter what they were asked, no matter how difficult, or unrealistic the task was, would smile and say yes or would say they’d try- even if they knew they couldn’t.)”

Jamerican, who is a Jamaican American Muslimah, was perceived as negative when she was being honest. White co-workers were given the benefit of the doubt–repeatedly. This behavior may be elusive and even unconscious to whites, but it is clearly seen by those who actively confront racism, “And this is one of the ways in which I believe privilege functions. White people give other white people the benefit of the doubt, maybe even when it’s not deserved.”

In one of their experiments to test the hypothesis of aversive racism, our researchers (Dovidio & Co.) found that when ”test” job candidates with weak qualifications were reviewed by white “test” employers, the white candidates’ skills were seen as stronger than they really were where as the black candidates skills were seen as weaker. Equal skills, yet the preference was for white.  The researchers describe these results as “Whites may give White candidates the ‘benefit  of the doubt,’ a benefit that is not extended to outgroup members.” This is one of the subtle ways that aversive racism exists, we extend the benefit of the doubt more liberally to our own. Making excuses for a sister is encouraged, but what about that sincere naseeha and wanting for your sisters what you want for yourself? Is hypocrisy and/or injustice what we want for each other?

And do you extend excuses to your siblings of color, or are you extending the wrong kind of excuses to yourself: “However, because of [whites] negative feelings, they will discriminate, often unintentionally, when their behavior can be justified on the basis of some factor other than race (e.g., questionable qualifications for a position)*”(Dovidio).

*My emphasis. So what kind of factors prevent you from extending yourself to Muslims of color? Do you label them rude? Backwards or uncivilized? Uneducated? Belonging to such and such Muslim affiliation and therefore unworthy of Muslim adab (manners)? Or worse, do you have suspicions about an individual based on stereotypes:

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 90:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, “Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; and do not look for the others’ faults and do not spy, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not desert (cut your relation with) one another, and do not hate one another; and O Allah’s worshipers! Be brothers (as Allah has ordered you!”)

Allen explains the necessity of opening lines of trust to break the cycle of inter-racial distrust:

“Trustworthiness generates trust. Our life is much better when we can and do trust our fellow citizens. If both parties are working to prove themselves trustworthy and to test the trustworthiness of others, then it starts to generate a culture where greater levels of trust are possible.”

Since this is getting epic, I will have to come back to “those arrogant white people,” inshallah. But I hope you come away from this recognizing that if you do carry some of those jilhaliya behaviors, such as wrongfully extending unearned excuses one way but not extending fair excuses another, you will see how that makes you untrustworthy.

 

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The Carnival is Here: White Privilege and The Ummah (Updated 6/4)

Welcome to The White Privilege & the Ummah Carnival: What Does it Mean to You, Them and Us?* *Them is non-Muslims, Us is the Ummah

My intention behind this carnival, for the sake of Allah of course, was to initiate some dialogue about race related issues within the Ummah focusing specifically on white Muslim privilege. Problems stemming from racism, nationalism and privilege within the Ummah are not a secret, except maybe to new converts or newly transplanted Muslims, but in my experience I have only seen very, very little talk about these problems coming from white Muslims–and mostly is has revolved around implicating others. So, inshAllah, I hope that this carnival may be a starting point for white Muslims to begin self-critical affirmative efforts to better ourselves–because that is what we are supposed to do, for the sake of Allah.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed, in my experience, this has been educational–but not fun. I really appreciate the thoughtful work of the folks below, they have given much to consider. I will add new entries to this post as they are sent in, please let me know in the comments if you have a post to add.

Please respect each other and fear Allah.

Lucky Fatima demonstrates the numerous ways that white privilege continues to permeate her life and even flourishes in Muslim settings. “We see Ourselves and other whites as unique individuals, but we see native Muslims as part of Their cultures and blame any contentions we have with them on cultural deficits. This is a very deep issue with white privilege.” Everything I say is to myself: Some thoughts on white privilege in the Ummah for Brooke’s Carnival (Added June 4th)

Safiyya of Shaalom 2 Salaam presents her unique perspective of converting to Islam from Judaism–she may look white, but looks aren’t everything. ”When I become a Muslim, I thought the anti-semitism and racism would not exist. I was naive.” The White Privilege and The Ummah Carnival: What Does it Mean to You, Them and Us?

Safiya of Outlines reveals the disadvantages of being the sought-after White sister and acknowledges the necessity to reject elusive cultural norms, “The concept of White superiority is alien to Islam, in fact it’s haraam and so it is one that White Muslims must work very hard to shed, without seeking any reward.” Being Muslim While White Privileged also, check out her carnival: Celebrating Muslim Motherhood

Yusuf of Indigo Jo Blogs takes a broad look at the intricacies of race, culture and privileges within the UK  Ummah, and the problem of “whititude.” “[Whititude] describes the attitude that [white Muslims] have a certain enlightenment that is lacking in the established Muslim community.” White Privilege and the White Convert

Ginny’s Thoughts & Things Unpacking a different kind of bag, Ginny expounds upon the complexities of confronting privilege while faced with discrimination and overt ableism. “All I can tell you is what it’s like to be a blind white Muslim who benefits from white privilege but doesn’t always understand how.” Hesitant Thoughts on White Privilege

Hajar of Tales From An American Nomad  chronicles her evolving examination of privilege and isms, “I don’t want my children’s views to be skewed by that subtle, yet oppressive sense of meritless entitlement that comes with the oppressors’ mind-set.” De Facto White Privilege and a poem too! The Whipping Girl

Krista of Muslimah Media Watch calls out western (especially white) sisters for upholding supremist idealogies, it’s still us vs. them. “Whiteness and Western identities are reinforced as superior and above the problems that are found in cultures deemed foreign, rigid and violent.”  Unpacking the “Culture” Argument 

Bin Gregory Productions looks at what being “white” is and how that transfers into American subcultures, such as converting to Islam. He also gives a guy’s perspective of white male Muslim privilege.”White privilege and institutionalized racism are a tremendous negative force in American society … But it still doesn’t transform white-skinned people into a People called White in any meaningful or positive way.” Oh Man, White Muslims Again

Sabiwabi of Oy, Habibti details the stereotypes and stigmas that many white Muslims face within their communities. “ Please don’t ask me more than once where I am from or ask for some sort of proof or tell me that I could be your cousins’ sisters’ niece from Turkey because she looks exactly like me.”  White Muslim, Sounding Off

Me of Here turned the finger inward to see how my privilege works within the Ummah. “For me, addressing my own white privilege is a necessary step to further remove myself from the residual behaviors of my jilhaliya.” A Residue Remains: Using White Privilege in The Ummah and Inter-Racial Distrust and The White Muslim

Umar Lee AKA/ The Brother You Want to Shut up (who is used to getting flack for sharing his perspectives), addresses white Muslims’ avoidance of critical introspection. “I believe that white is based on what you are not and not on what you are and someone who lives a life according to the sunnah is one of those things you cannot be.” More on Whiteness and Islam Debate

Nzingha’s Soapbox demonstrates the ways that her privilege fluctuates as an American Muslim back home and in the lands of the Muslims. “My white privilege is put into question in the US because I am a convert to Islam, but than because I am a convert it is more meaningful in the ME especially since I am white.”  I’m a White American Girl

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The White Privilege & the Ummah Carnival: What Does it Mean to You, Them and Us?

The Carnival goes up this Friday, the 22nd, inshAllah.

The White Privilege & the Ummah Carnival: What Does it Mean to You, Them and Us?* *Them is non-Muslims, Us is the Ummah

Submissions (ideally) Due Wednesday May 20^th  but will keep adding as you come along, inshallah. Please leave a link if you put up a post on your blog, thanks.

For a hot minute I was worried that I would never get around to doing this, but I’m glad it did take me this long as I have had a chance to germinate some ideas that I would have otherwise not had time to ponder.

       The idea for taking a closer look at white privilege in the ummah came from a comment discussion with Jamerican Muslimah. At that time, I had mostly only thought about my white privilege in terms of how mine was revoked when I joined a religious minority (in the US) and put a little square of cloth over my head. **(I recognize now that my privilege was not revoked, but it certainly felt that way). I think this experience must be quite shocking for most new Muslimas and especially for white women who had taken so much for granted in western societies.

       I have mostly worked from home since I began covering and so when I did interact with society, as a Muslima, it was mostly fairly superficial, such as running errands and taking the kids to the park–where the other mommies don’t talk to me so much anymore. When I recently went back to school, I was quite shocked at the treatment I perceived that I was getting from my peers and professors to the point where I actually thought I may be getting a little paranoid or developing some kind of social anxiety disorder. Finally, I did an experiment where for the first several meets of my winter courses I fully “hijabed” in a cap and scarf to class, and sure enough it wasn’t me, it was them.

       Anyhoo, I digress. You see, this white privilege carnival could very easily be a giant rantfest about how if feels to have your white privilege card revoked **(or seemingly so), and though that could be very self-satisfying, I think there is a possibility for this endeavor to be much more thought-provoking.

       The White Privilege and The Ummah carnival will be open to all Muslimas—white, passing, woc, converts, indigenous Muslimas, 1.5 generation, etc. ** I was thinking just Muslimas, but will include brothers too. The topic is widely open to your interpretation and even rants about the loss of privilege are welcome. Here are a few starter ideas to get things going:

 Jamerican had made these suggestions:

•  Something I’d love to see a White Muslim woman blog about-confronting their White privilege in the larger society (suddenly becoming the ‘other’)
•  And also within the Muslim community (being the sought after White woman)
•  Using Muslim community White privilege to dictate norms to other- brown- Muslim women

       That bit about “dictating norms to other-brown-Muslim women” immediately raised some eyebrows, and I don’t think I would have been able to see those dynamics prior to her mentioning it, so inshallah I will try to address that somewhat in my post, but hope other folks will give it some good thinking about.

       It is fairly well known how sought after white Muslimas are, but I don’t necessarily think this works out well for many sisters. It would be nice to hear about these sort of experiences from a first-person perspective.

It would also be good to hear about:

• Being a white Muslima amongst the Muslims in the lands of the Muslims. Is it easier to go abroad? Are we treated better?
• The Great Equalizer? How does being Muslim affect race relations?
• Extra-attention/sensitivity doled out to the White shahada.
• How does class continue to affect white Muslims? What are the differences in experiences between white privilege for upper/middle class white Muslims and working-poor/poor white Muslims?
• Maintaining or discarding White American cultural norms. Fact Observation: Many white people are not trustworthy and they are arrogant—does that change or remain when we become Muslim?

        When I initially shopped this thing around, I got a wide range of responses including that white privilege doesn’t exist and also that white privilege ceases to exist once a white person becomes Muslim. I don’t agree with either of those positions, but  I would include posts written from those angles as all opinions are valid.

       For those of my siblings who are in doubt that white privilege does exist, I would like to share a couple my experiences with recognizing my privilege from my jilhaliya.

        When I was in my early twenties, myself and another prospective renter where looking at a fabtabulous studio to rent in a not-so-desirable neighborhood (the Tendernob/Upperloin). As we stood in front of the bay windows and the apartment manager gave as all the details, I remember thinking that I “had it.” The other prospect was a middle-aged Asian man with a noticeable accent. Though I suspected he probably made more money than me, he would probably do less damage to the place than me, and he would probably actually pay the last month’s rent rather than use the deposit—I knew I would get the apartment, and I did.

       A few months later I was taking a train trip across the country.  I was awakened to an announcement that we had crossed some state line and law enforcement officials would be randomly checking people’s luggage for contraband. Immediately two officers entered the car and started slowly moving down the isle towards me. In my backpack, stowed at my feet, was a cache of illegal material—to my relief, the officers didn’t even seem to look at me–instead they went straight to the two black men a few seats behind me. I didn’t know what it was called, but I knew right then that I had it.

       Need more explanation? Peggy McIntosh has written an excellent article that illustrates what it is, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Please go read the whole article; here are a few from the list of 26 privileges. I have crossed out those that were revoked when I began wearing hijab:

 1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area, which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

4. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

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