The White Privilege and the Ummah Carnival: What Does It Mean to You, Them and Us?

Sister Brooke over at Rolling Ruminations has started "The White Privilege and the Ummah: What Does It Mean to You, Them, and Us" blog carnival. "Them" is non-Muslims, "Us" is the Ummah.

If you are/consider yourself "white," feel free to jump in. It is open to both brothers and sisters. The carnival goes up on Friday, May 22, Insha Allah.

Once your post is finished, go to Brooke's blog and add your link to the comments or send her a private email with your post link.

Here is my contribution:

It's difficult for me to discuss this topic in a blog carnival. Why? First of all, because the topic is potentially rife with fitnah. But I can only write about my experiences and observations. I do not claim to speak for others.

I am a "white" Muslimah who is 60 years old. I am also a convert from Judaism to Islam.

So, "privilege" is not something I have personally ever associated with my white skin.

The Jew in America was, and to some extent still is, always considered "other."

There was a time in America when Jews were treated similarly to people of color (POC). Anti-semitism was rampant in America. Jews were vilified and even denied admittance to many places in America. Even today, Jewish country clubs, golf courses, and other places still exist that were started in 1940ish America.

I particularly remember how proud Jewish people were when Bess Myerson was crowned Miss America in 1945. Now, mind you, I was born in 1949, but as a child, Bess Myerson was an American Jewish heroine among us Jews. She was the first and last Jewish Miss America.

Looking at Bess Myerson and not knowing who she is or anything about her, one would assume white privilege:



But Bess Myerson suffered incredible anti-semitism as Miss America. This link explains some of what she experienced. Bess Myerson had a lot of difficulty carrying out her Miss America duties.

These days, some assert that Jews don't have it so bad in America. Some even claim that Jews run America. If that's true, it wasn't always that way.

Some Muslims claim that white privilege extends into the Muslim ummah. Perhaps it does. But some say that lighter skin has always been desirable among people. For example, some Arabs whiten their skin. "Good hair" is talked about among Blacks, as "pelo bueno" is among Hispanics. All over the world, light skin is sought. The "why" is not the focus of my post. I will leave that for discussion by a person of color.

For me, I haven't experienced "privilege" in the Muslim community due to my white skin. When I was divorced, no one knocked down my door for marriage because I have white skin. No one recommended me to any non-white for marriage despite my deen and my participation in the masjid. I am sure it had more to do with my age at the time (in my 50s) than my skin color.

Of all the white sisters I personally know, NONE of them are married to Arabs who had green cards or citizenship prior to the marriage to the white sister. If they did have documentation, they sent "back home" for a spouse when they were ready to marry.

In my masjid, my opinion is not purposely sought because of my white skin. As a matter of fact, my opinion is more often disregarded because I am not Arab or Indo-Pak. No one goes out of their way to favor me by speaking English because I have white skin.

As a child, I saw and experienced a lot of racism toward people of color. Remember that inter-racial marriage was a crime until the mid 1960s. For a time, we lived in a housing project (in the 1950s) where we had a black section. But, we did all go to school together. Where did I fit in as Jew? With the black kids. I did not enjoy "white privilege" because I was a Jew.

Prior to living in this housing project, we lived in New York City. Maybe I was too little to understand racism, but I never felt it so keenly until we moved to the projects in Pennsylvania.

When I become a Muslim, I thought the anti-semitism and racism would not exist. I was naive. Before saying the Shahadah, I read a lot about Islam and Muslims. I especially enjoyed the Prophet's (saw) Last Sermon, where he spoke about no person being better than another except by deen.

But mixing with Muslims, I have to say that I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED SO MUCH RACISM since my childhood. Some Muslims are over-concerned with another's lineage. Arabs stick with Arabs. Pakistanis stick with Pakistanis. Egyptians stick with Egyptians. Saudis with Saudis - and on and on and on.

Black sisters have shared with me the racism that feel and experience in the ummah. When they first started talking to me about it, I was real quick to defend those they were accusing of being racist. But, then I started to see it with my own eyes.

To add another layer to it all, my husband is African-American. Some of you "White" sisters or brothers married to Blacks know the story all too well. When someone first meets you (as a white Muslim), the first question they want to know is who you are married to and where your spouse is from. I play a little game with them:

Them: Sister, where is your husband from?
Me: Oh (with big fake smile because I know where this convo is going), he's American.
Them: Oh, yes, but where is he from?
Me: Why, he's American (pretending like I'm stupid).
Them: Yes, but WHERE is he from?
Me: He's from Philadelphia.
Them: Yes (a little uncomfortable now), but before that.
Me: He's American. Born and raised in Philadelphia. He's African-American.
Them: face falls, silent.

We (hubby and I) are not highly sought out. We are not invited to many homes or parties. We don't fit in anywhere. Everyone says they love us. But they don't include us. Yes, one or two Muslims who place Allah (swt) and deen first, yes, but for the most part, no. There are sisters here who I mix with on a regular basis. I have never been invited to their homes, to aqiqahs for the children, etc.

White privilege? For me, despite having white skin, people who don't know me assume that I'm a light-skinned Arab. Some Arabs even speak Arabic to me until they find out that I am a white American. Non-Muslims look at my clothing, not my skin.

When they find out I am a convert, that I PURPOSELY chose to be a Muslim and dress this way, I am seen as a traitor to "my" race. I truly then lose whatever race card I supposedly held.

Many people would prefer to marry their "own kind" - for many reasons. Inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages can be difficult.

How many Muslim couples do you know where both the husband and the wife are White?

Do you realize how difficult it can be to explain to your relatives that you have married a Muslim? And, oh BTW, he's (insert whatever non-white he is).

My mother, who was white/Polish and who married a Jew, was very bitter after they got divorced. When I was a little girl, my mother used to constantly remind me that "a Jew is a nigger turned inside out." As a little girl, I used to wonder if I had black skin underneath my white skin. Perhaps it was true, I thought. After all, when my black friends cut or scraped themselves on the playground, I always saw white/pink skin and red blood underneath their black skin. Imagine my confusion when I got hurt. I never saw the black skin my mother said I had underneath my scrap or cut. And my black friends had white-ish skin under their feet. The bottoms of my feet are white. I didn't see black skin on the bottoms of my feet. Yes, I was confused about a lot of things as a child.

I'm sure that I had some white privilege from people who didn't know that I was Jewish. I just wasn't aware of it.

The white privilege I experience these days is that most white people automatically think I'm a Catholic nun. They see my black jilbabs and hijab and think I"m a nun. Perhaps they don't know any white Muslims. It doesn't always have to be racism.

So you can see why I think this theme is rife for fitnah, stereotypes, and prejudice. So, I'll leave it to what I have written.