Race and Arab Americans before and after 9/11: from invisible citizens to visible subjects

Bringing the rich terrain of histories to bear conceptualizations of race in the U.S., this groundbreaking volume fills a critical gap in the field of ethnic studies. Unlike most immigrant communities who either have been consistently marked as non-white, or have made a transition from non-white to white, Americans historically have been rendered white and have increasingly come to be seen as non-white. This book highlights emergent discourses the distinct ways that race matters to the study of histories and asks essential questions. What is the relationship between U.S. imperialism in homelands and anti-Arab racism in the lives of Americans? What are the relationships between religion, class, gender, and anti-Arab racism? What is the significance of whiteness studies to studies? Transcending multiculturalist discourses after September 11 that have simply added on the category Arab American to the landscape of U.S. ethnic and racial studies, this volume locates September 11 as a turning point, rather than a beginning, in the history of engagements with race, multiculturalism, and Americanization.