The four words I whispered to myself on 9/11 reverberated through the mind of every Muslim American that day and every day after, forming a unifying prayer for Muslim Americans after every attack. Our fear, and the collective breath or brace for the hateful backlash that ensued, symbolize the existential tightrope that defines Muslim American identity today. It has become a definitive part of what it means to be Muslim American when an act of terror unfolds and the finger-pointing begins.

DEFINE: Defines Muslim American identity through the recurring anticipatory fear of backlash following attacks, framing it as an 'existential tightrope.'

Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Unde…, loc. 49