Racial Formation, racial identity, intraracial and interracial trust: The case of Arab Americans in the post-9/11 Era

Arab Americans have been racialized as a non-White “Other” despite being officially counted as White until 2024. State and non-state racist actions could have contributed to a reexamination of identity among Arab Americans after the 11 September 2001, attacks. I investigate the relationship between the identity struggles associated with the post-9/11 racialization of Arab Americans and their trust of White and Arab Americans. Utilizing Racial Formation Theory, I argue that Arab Americans with weak or strong racial/ethnic Arab identity were less likely than those with ambivalent Arab identity to trust White Americans. A stronger Arab identity was associated with more trust of Arab Americans. Results from the Detroit Arab American Study (2003) suggest that the strength of racial/ethnic identities contributes to how the racialization process is linked to trust among Arab Americans.