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White in America vs. White Among American Muslims

White in America vs. White Among American Muslims

Last updated on: May 27, 2016 at 5:46 pm by Guest Contributor

White in America vs. White Among American Muslims 2016-05-27T17:46:45-04:00 Guest Contributor

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By Charles M. Turner

When you’re white, conversion to Islam can be accompanied by excessive fanfare.

That was my experience as a recent convert. My coming to Islam seemed to be just as emotional for friends and strangers alike as it was for myself. I was often taken aback by the praise I received for my decision, and many often claimed that the act itself was proof that I was so much more pious than “natural born” Muslims. Of course, I knew myself better than others, and naturally disagreed.

My story is very different than my best friend’s, however, who converted to Islam just a few years prior. Aside from the customary embrace every convert receives after their shahada (declaration of faith), he was soon met with a sense of communal apathy towards his entering into faith. Instead of being praised for his conscious decision to accept Islam, he was instead questioned whether he had come to learn and embrace Islam while in prison.

His conversion was also not considered a surprise or anomaly — in fact, one Muslim expressed that “his people” had come to America as Muslims anyway, so he was really just returning to his tradition.

Within weeks of becoming Muslim, I was elected to an executive position in the Muslim Students Association, despite having no real knowledge of Islam and no true leadership experience. My friend rose through the ranks slowly and due to his overwhelming intelligence, his articulate manner of speaking, and sheer work ethic. While I coasted to the top despite lacking knowledge and skills, he struggled to the same heights despite being overqualified.

I was immediately given a position to speak on behalf of a community I barely knew, and he was never afforded the same opportunity to the same extent.

He was much more intelligent, articulate and knew more about the faith and the culture of the Muslim community. I would even go so far as to say he was better looking than myself! So what is it that allowed me to ascend in the community while he trudged along slowly?

Well, I’m white and he’s black, if that isn’t obvious by now.

The Politics of Privilege

I’m optimistic that most of our society is starting to grasp the concept of how some people, particularly white males, are afforded greater opportunities than other demographics. On a national scale, white men are overrepresented in media in a positive light, dominate many upper socioeconomic occupations and are capable of traversing any landscape without fear of harassment from others.

Within the Muslim community, I’ve learned that many privileges still exist for the white man. I was able to climb to positions of leadership without the necessary skills needed. I was the first to be introduced to the media. And even when I said something wrong, made a mistake, or developed an opinion with which the majority of Muslims didn’t agree, I was readily forgiven.

My friend certainly couldn’t say this for himself.

As with anyone who enjoys privilege, my advantages were often unseen to me. I didn’t see how radically different our situations were until I heard him tell his stories. But what truly opened my eyes was the moment I realized that the privilege I had benefited from in American society wouldn’t fully transfer to the Muslim community.

That was a much-needed lesson.

Being white in America is not exactly the same as being white in the Muslim community. Privilege is related to power, and power is a very fluid concept. In American society, white men have maintained power through a combination of means — from the seclusion of minorities from prominent political and economic positions to state-sponsored policies that contribute to and even promote discrimination.

Within the last few decades, we’ve witnessed a major push back against entrenched privilege, and in response those in power have sought to create new institutions and narratives to reassert their power. With the successes of the civil rights movement came the mass incarceration policies and the creation of the welfare queen caricature.

As African Americans have risen up in protest against the excessive force used by authorities, which has led to the murder of numerous countless individuals, solidarity organizations calling for justice have been labeled as violent thugs attacking the American institution that is law enforcement. And as further progress is made, history tells us that resist will arise to combat racial progress. But just as some try to maintain white privilege in American society,a different sort of privilege is equally defended in Muslim communities

Privilege is dispersed in different ways and can often vary within each individual Muslim community. From speaking with others and from my own experiences, it seems that being white in the Muslim community does not equate the same privilege as being white in America. Knowing this to be a controversial statement, allow me to provide a few examples.

White in America vs. White Among American Muslims

Converts are often subject to requests for the abandonment of their former identities to ensure they conform to a supposed “Islamic” identity. This Islamic identity is itself an exercise of power and an attempt at controlling how the faith is interpreted and practiced. For example, converts are often told to adopt Arabic names. Within a masjid, converts may be encouraged to dress in a particular cultural garb that is deemed as Islamic by those providing the encouragement.

It can often go deeper than clothing and names, though. A convert that doesn’t “look the part” may not have their opinions considered to the same extent as someone who does conform to the supposed Islamic identity. Whereas certain cultural practices are pushed as the “Islamic way of life,” like the separation of sexes and conformity to community thought, American cultural ideas and norms are often seen as incompatible to the faith or blatantly corrupting to a believers faith.

Pressured conformity gets personal as well. Converts may have a harder time getting married to those who don’t belong to the same culture, and discrimination is often unapologetic. They are often subject to inflammatory speech about non-Muslims, who may constitute the majority or entirety of a convert’s family.

Of course these observations are coming from a white man, and therefore I can’t even begin to understand the struggles of a female convert.

Struggle comes with its own sense of wisdom, however. Despite feeling frustrated at the small amount of discrimination I’ve faced, my place in the Muslim community has allowed me to come to terms with the greater privilege I have in American society. Standing amongst a crowd in which I can’t understand the language being spoken has shown me what it must feel like to be a new immigrant in a foreign country.

Failing to push progress in the masjid because its leadership is of a different cultural and generation, and thoroughly entrenched in their positions, has opened my eyes to how the glass ceiling actually feels. And, acknowledging that my ideas are not immediately accepted because I was raised in a different context has shown just how easy it is for a white man to maneuver in American society.

Take no pity on my story though, for as soon as I walk out the doors of the masjid, the society is built for people like me: fair-skinned, blonde-haired, blue-eyed men from the middle class. My friend, however, never catches a break.

What I hope to impart is that privilege is fluid, and it exists to varying degrees for different peoples at different times and places. It does exist though, and in certain contexts it may exist for those who feel the most disenfranchised. Ultimately, privilege is something that must be acknowledged and power must be dispersed to all if we want to live in a more just society.

The political discourse of our nation (at least one strain of it) is now focusing on the moral imperative of raising up our country’s weakest: the poor, the uninsured, the sick, the subjects of systemic discrimination. As the Muslim community witnesses and engages in this national debate, we ought to remember we have our own issues with privilege and prejudice.

Charles M. Turner, an Altmuslim columnist, is a graduate student of Political Science at George Mason University. A convert to Islam, Charles has served in numerous organizations including the Muslim Chaplain Services of Virginia, the Virginia Muslim Coalition for Public Affairs, and the Islamic Center of Virginia. He currently works as a teacher at the Tawheed Prep School, the only Muslim middle and high school in the Richmond area. Charles plans to continue his education in political science with a focus on Islam and Politics and one day teach at a university.

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