Critical race theorists call this process "racialization," and contend that "races are not biologically differentiated groupings but rather social constructions." Races, and racial categories, therefore, are fluid and dynamic constructs that are shaped and reshaped in line with political, economic, and cultural interests. In line with this process of racialization, Orientalism (re)made "Muslim" into a race. This conversion of Muslim identity from a religion into a race changed a diverse population represented in every corner of the globe to the narrow form of the Arab, or as stated by Islamophobia scholar Erik Love, anybody "who looks Middle Eastern."

DEFINE: Clarifies that 'race' denotes a social construct shaped by political and cultural interests rather than biological groupings.

Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Unde…, loc. 161