Ecklund, Elaine Howard2019-05-162019-05-162019-052019-04-18May 2019Mehta, Sharan Kaur. "Negotiating Race in a Climate of Islamophobia: How Muslim and Sikh Americans Perceive Discrimination and Construct Racialized Religious Identities." (2019) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105406">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105406</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105406Since 9/11, the dramatic rise in hate crimes against Muslim Americans has garnered increasing concerns about the pervasiveness of Islamophobia in the US and inspired growing scholarship on the racialization of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim, such as Sikhs. However, significant gaps remain in our understanding of Muslim and Sikh experiences, as crime reports fail to capture the scope of hate incidents and discrimination that represent critical ways in which racism and Islamophobia shape the lived experiences of racialized religious minorities. Here, I examine the ways in which Muslim and Sikh Americans perceive experiences of discrimination, the effects of such experiences on their everyday lives, and how perceived discrimination shapes the construction of racialized religious identities. After conducting 30 interviews with community members (14 Muslim and 16 Sikh) and participant observations at a masjid (mosque) and gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) in Houston, Texas, I find that, in addition to perceived experiences of discrimination, the perceived risk of being discriminated against shapes life “choices” and chances. Further, Muslims and Sikhs’ assertion of their religious identities are shaped not only by direct experiences of discrimination, but also an awareness of the broader socio-political climate which situates their collective identities as under threat. This awareness undergirds a complex negotiation between blending in and standing out that embeds religious and racial meaning into visible and invisible religious symbols. Findings contribute insights into the racialization process by pointing to the critical role of religion for members of these minority traditions when negotiating racialized experiences.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Islamophobiaracializationperceived discriminationMuslimSikhThesis2019-05-16