With this question, once again we encounter notions of race and racism rooted in biological categories that do not fully capture the type of racism under analysis here. Moreover, as the scholars Nasar Meer and Tariq Modood argue, people do not, in fact, choose to be born into a Muslim family, nor do they choose to be born into a society in which to be a Muslim, or to have ethnic roots in a Muslim-majority country, automatically makes one an object of suspicion among the non-Muslim majority population. Many people suffer discrimination and hostility in the West simply because they are perceived to be Muslim, either because of outward dress or through family heritage or ethnic lineage. These realities would not disappear even if self-identified Muslims chose to identify with another religious community or dropped a religious identity altogether.

DEFINE: Clarifies why biological race categories fail to capture the ascriptive, perception-based racism directed at Muslims.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 96