Racialized surveillance can become deeply internalized when Muslim American children are taught to self-discipline and self-surveil. At a young age, Muslim American youth are learning they are not like other American children but are held to different standards. One of the consequences of this racialization is the denial of individuality. Muslim Americans are denied their individuality in public spaces and are forced to navigate society within the confines of an externally imposed collective identity. Because individualism is a key characteristic of American citizenship, when people are denied their individuality but instead are treated as a collective, they do not enjoy the privileges that citizenship should afford.

XREF: Connects to broader literature on racialized surveillance of minority groups and how internalized self-policing shapes civic identity.

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 347