‘Let’s hope the Boston Marathon Bomber is a White American’: racialising Muslims and the politics of white identity

ABSTRACT

This paper examines public discourse on race, whiteness and Muslims through an in-depth exploration of an online media controversy following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. On 16 April, the day after the attacks, the liberal magazine Salon.com published David Sirota’s article, ‘Let’s Hope the Boston Marathon Bomber is a White American’. A firestorm of commentary followed, with conservatives defending the profiling of Muslims, and accusing Sirota of anti-white racism. Anchored in questions of race, racism and Muslims and marked by a sharp partisan polarisation, these discussions intensified after 18 April, when the Tsarnaev brothers were identified as the perpetrators. The ensuing debate surrounding the racial identity of the Tsarnaevs displays how Muslim racialisation occurs and operates within a conservative discourse strongly committed to a colour-blind ideology. Our paper moves beyond this affirmation of literature on Muslim racialisation and sets this process within a relationally constructed and performative white racial identity.

KEYWORDS:

• Race
• racialisation
• whiteness
• Islam
• islamophobia
• media

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2013/04/4chan-plays-racist-wheres-wally-find-boston-bomber.

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/the-weeks-boston-marathon_n_3203817.html.

3. http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2013/04/media_please_do.html.