How does it feel to be a Muslim?
Events in the Arab and Muslim world direct me back again to W.E.B. Du Bois and the pressing question in his book, The Souls of Black Folk– how does it feel to be a problem? The question posed by Du Bois in relations to Black Americans and the problem of race in America and around the world has not ended and is as intense today as it was at the time he wrote the book. The problem of race is ever present but constantly ignored or brushed aside for other more pressing issues. “Why are you so hung-up on race?” was one comment and Islam is not race so why bring it into conversation? Race and racism is the canopy that covers every aspect of modernity while everyone either deny its existence or attempt to obfuscate its impact by pointing to other factors-sociological, economic, cultural, etc.
The question and comments reflect a very rudimentary understanding of race and the process of racilization. Yet, the more profound undertone in these refrains is a real preoccupation with race on those complaining since the basic contours of the argument is that the status quo is a work in progress and Blacks (and minorities) should see the glass half-full since real progress has been made since enslavement time.
A note of caution for those reading further: The Black question is not similar to any other racial question and borrowing Du Bois’s framing does not mean to create…
