Nadia B. Ahmad
Volume 28.1 (download PDF)
Abstract
This article examines the challenges facing Muslim Americans, particularly Muslim women, as they confront systemic bias, intersectional oppression, and the racialization of religion in the United States. Through personal narrative and critical legal scholarship, it explores the pervasive nature of Islamophobia in political, academic, and societal spaces, highlighting its deep entrenchment in media and public policy. The author recounts a gendered Islamophobic attack during the 2024 Democratic National Committee’s Convention as an example of how prejudice and political intimidation intersect to marginalize Muslims. Using this experience as a foundation, the article critiques structural inequities reinforced through diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that fail to disrupt entrenched systems of racism. It draws on emerging MusCrit scholarship, which situates Muslim identity within critical race theory, to advocate for counter-narratives that challenge reductive and racialized depictions of Islam.