One might assume that in a politically liberal city such as Chicago, anti-Muslim sentiments would be fewer. Yet the experiences of the Muslim Americans I interviewed suggest that these negative sentiments transcend political ideology. In other words, anti-Muslim feelings and Islamophobia are present regardless of the political leanings of the local population. An examination of Muslim American life in cities like Chicago and the Dallas/Fort Worth area sheds light on the increased racialization of Muslim Americans that has occurred in the years since 9/11.

XREF: Connects to broader literature on racialization of Muslim Americans post-9/11 and how prejudice operates independent of local political culture. QUESTION: What mechanisms sustain Islamophobia in liberal cities where overt expression might be socially discouraged? Is it implicit, institutional, or coded?

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 119