Latino and Muslim in America: Race, Religion, and the Making of a New Minority

by Harold D. Morales

Latino and Muslim in America examines how so-called "minority groups" are made, fragmented, and struggle for recognition. The U.S. is poised to become the first nation whose collective minorities outnumber the dominant population, and Latinos play no small role in this world-changing demographic shift. Even as many people view Latinos and Muslims as growing threats, Latino Muslims celebrate their intersecting identities in their daily lives and in their mediated representations.

In this book, Harold D. Morales follows the lives of several Latino Muslim leaders from the 1970's to the present, tracing their efforts to organize and unify nationally in order to solidify the new identity group's place within the public sphere. Drawing on four years of media analysis, ethnographic and historical research, Morales demonstrates that Latinos embrace Islam within historically specific contexts that include distinctive immigration patterns and new laws, urban spaces, and media technologies that have increasingly brought Latinos and Muslims into contact. He positions this growing community as part of the mass exodus out of the Catholic Church, the growth of Islam, and the digitization of religion. Latino and Muslim in America explores the interactions between religion, race, and media to conclude that these three categories are inextricably entwined.

Genres: Muslims

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2018

Reviews

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book provides a historical and social overview of the development of the Latino Muslim community in the US over about 40 years. I am very far from this field, but I found the book very readable (not a dry academic text -- a huge plus), well-organized and thought provoking. I learned a lot -- starting from the first chapter on the history of Islam in Spain and the resulting connections to modern Latino Muslims. There was nuanced discussion about the role and structure of "reversion" stories, about the role of media in the development of the community, about "convivencia" -- the aspirational symbiotic co-existence between different religious and ethnic groups -- and on the struggle between celebration of individuality and seeking recognition for the whole Latino Muslim community. Overall, an interesting and thought-provoking read.