Racialization is rooted in relationships of power that are institutionalized. Racializing bodies serves those who wield power in society and therefore is constantly changing and mutating based on the interests of those in power. This explains why some groups of people are vilified at one point in time over another. For example, the belief that Syrians are potential terrorists and dangerous to Western nations is perpetuated when the government wants to limit Syrian refugees from entering the United States at a time when millions of Syrians have been forced out of their country due to internal wars and political conflicts. However, as I describe in chapter 1, Syrians were once treated like white ethnics in the United States partially because of their skin tone. Is this current manifestation of their racialization based on physical appearance or visual cues, or are they racialized based on religious and national and ethnic identities? In order to understand how Syrians are racialized currently, racialization cannot be limited to just skin tone or biological differences. While Omi and Winant's definition of racialization is important and a major contribution to expanding scholarship on race, it is still tied to phenotypes, limiting an analysis of other cultural attributes that also racialize individuals.

XREF: Connects to Omi and Winant's racialization framework, which the author credits yet critiques for remaining phenotype-bound.

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 66