The choreography of the Jones visit was much more complex than this brief sketch can convey, but it serves well as an example of disciplinary inclusion. The Muslim community was supported during this crisis by institutions of the larger society, and it was carefully controlled in the process. The rejection of Terry Jones represented both a commitment to the Americanness of Dearborn's Muslims, who deserved respect, and an acknowledgment of the (supposed) inability of (some) Muslims to accept certain kinds of free speech. Local Muslims were brought into an ecumenical, public rejection of religious bigotry, all the while being told, directly and indirectly, by Muslims and non-Muslims, that reactions of the Danish cartoon variety—physical attacks, threats, burnings in effigy, angry chants of "death to ____!"—would be counterproductive and would confirm what many Americans believe: that Muslims are irrational and intolerant.

XREF: Connects to Foucauldian ideas of discipline and control operating through seemingly benevolent institutional support.

Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ Th…, loc. 678