Experience of Black Muslims in K-12 Education

 Experience of Black Muslims in K-12 Education

In the early twentieth century, the majority of American Muslims were Black, and they had a long history in the United States dating back to the late eighteenth century. In fact, 15 percent to 30 percent of the enslaved Black African population brought to the United States when slavery began were Muslims, according to estimates (Cole, Hypolite, & Atashi, 2020). For as long as Islam has existed in the United States, it has been inextricably linked to an intellectual framework based on White supremacy, anti-Black racism, and systemic oppression of Black people (Auston, 2017).

Despite the fact that Black Muslims have a long history, their experiences as students have been under-theorized and underrepresented in the study literature. This is due to a delegitimization of Black Muslims in the literature on Muslims in the United States, which Rahman (2021) believes is indicative of an anti-Black stance that ignores Black Muslims' contributions and experiences. This is especially crucial to recognize because Black Muslim students are more likely to face anti-Black attitudes, institutionalized racism, and rising Islamophobia (Ahmed & Muhammad, 2019).

A Crossroads of Identities

The numerous identities of Black Muslim students have been disregarded; therefore, this intersection has gone unnoticed. An exclusion like this exemplifies the historical separation of Black and Muslim identities in the United States (Cole et al., 2020). Understanding how institutionalized racism, anti-Black racism, and growing Islamophobia impact the realities of Black Muslim kids in school, particularly those in metropolitan areas, is crucial to better understand their experiences.

To comprehend the realities of Black Muslim kids in schools, particularly those in metropolitan areas, it is necessary to comprehend how institutionalized racism, anti-Black racism, and rising Islamophobia impact their lives.

Recently, there has been a recognition that we are living in a historical period marked by the intersection of broad and state-sanctioned anti-Black racism with widespread popular and political Islamophobia (Auston, 2017). When you examine the institutionalized racism that exists in schools, it's no surprise that Black Muslim children are badly impacted by the compounded confluence of their identities, which has been shaped by White supremacy, laws, and policies (Cole et al., 2020).

In addition to dealing with the complexities of racial and social constructions, Black Muslim students must also deal with the ways in which racialized systemic injustices appear in their daily lives (Cole et al., 2020). As a result, this study aims to clarify the experiences of Black Muslim students in urban regions of the United States by concentrating on how institutionalized racism, anti-Black racism, and rising Islamophobia impact their educational experiences. This report finishes with a need for greater research to better understand the experiences of Black Muslim students who have hitherto been overlooked in the literature.

Spatial Analysis of Critical Races

The educational experiences that Black Muslim pupils have vary depending on the schools they attend and where those institutions are located. With this in mind, critical race spatial analysis (CRSA) can be used to spatially study the role of race and racism in schools, both historically and currently (Vélez & Solórzano, 2017). Muslims are located throughout the United States; however, they are concentrated in major regions such as New York City, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Newark, New Jersey; and Los Angeles, California (Ahmad & Szpara, 20031; Auston, 2017). Furthermore, they are more likely to be poor than the general population (Mauleón, 2018).

Poverty has been linked to poor health, lower educational success, and higher rates of risk-taking behavior among Black Muslim students (Ahmed & Muhammad, 2019). Furthermore, systemic racism has a direct impact on the socio-economic conditions and possibilities available to Black Muslim students (Ahmed & Muhammad, 2019), particularly in the communities where their schools are located.

Public Policy and Demographics

Furthermore, Black Muslim students reside in predominately Black neighborhoods (Ahmed & Muhammad, 2019), making them vulnerable to racist policies and behaviors. For example, due to their racial identification, Black families have historically been redlined, and Black Muslims are subject to the same rules and practices. It was a policy that clearly segregated every urban location in the United States (Rothstein, 2018) where there are many Black Muslims.

The neighborhoods in which Black Muslim students live have an impact on their educational experiences, especially when race is a factor (as they are visibly Black before they are visibly Muslim). CRSA can be used to spatially evaluate how structural and institutional variables influence space to impact the educational experiences and opportunities accessible to students based on their race to better understand the significance of space and race for Black Muslim students (Vélez & Solórzano, 2017).

Anti-Black Racism

Anti-Black racism is firmly established in institutions, laws, and practices, all of which have a significant impact on Black students' educational performance. They face oppression as a result of anti-Black racism, which is reinforced by anti-blackness (Lopez & Jean-Marie, 2021). Anti-Black racism is so widespread in the United States that it encompasses both intentional and unintentional racial violence perpetrated against Black kids as a result of school policies and practices (Caldera, 2020).

Black children are continually navigating racially unfriendly school contexts in which racism and racial profiling are prevalent in the educational system (Love, 2013). Because this paper focuses on the experiences of Black Muslim students, it's crucial to pay attention to how anti-Black racism manifests itself in systemic acts of violence (e.g., disproportionate discipline, policing, racial profiling, etc.).

The policing of Black kids, in which they are racially profiled and surveilled, results in systemic acts of violence within schools. Not only does policing damage Black kids, but it also harms Muslim students.

As a result, it's critical to recognize how Black Muslim students are subjected to anti-Black racism as a result of police, which has become increasingly common in the communities where Black Muslim students live. For example, police officers are more likely to be present at schools in large, urban, and mostly minority schools, contributing to racial inequities when racial profiling tactics begin to take place within schools (Heitzeg, 2014).

Surveillance Analysis

When addressing the role of race in the racial profiling of students, CRSA can be used to examine how policing occurs inside these places. It's also helpful when thinking about how policing in impoverished urban populations differs from policing in other areas (Brunson & Miller, 2006).

Overall, anti-Black racism must be taken into account while analyzing the experiences of Black Muslim kids in school and throughout the educational system. Because of the racialization that occurs inside the school system and how anti-Black racism is strongly established within institutions, laws, and practices in the United States, Black Muslim students are more likely to face prejudice because of their race than because of their religion.

At the same time, when acknowledging the intersection of Black Muslim students' racialized identities and how they are susceptible to various forms of oppression, Islamophobia should be considered in conjunction with anti-Black racism, as there has been a paucity of literature on how Black Muslim youth navigate the intersecting oppressions of anti-Black racism and Islamophobia (Rahman, 2021).

Islamophobia

Islamophobia is described as a fear of and animosity against Muslims and Islam that stems from racism and results in individual and systemic discrimination, exclusion, and violence directed at Muslims and those believed to be Muslims (Green, 2019). While Islamophobia used to be defined as hate or prejudice against Muslims, it has evolved to include the opinion that Islam is fundamentally violent, alien, and unassimilable, which is based on the belief that Muslim identity is linked to terrorism (Beydoun, 2018).

Following the events of 9/11, Muslims have been subjected to a new form of racism in which they are racialized within the United States (Itaoui, 2020). This racialization is especially critical to address for Black Muslim students who face anti-Black racism and Islamophobia on a daily basis.

According to Auston (2017), we are living in a moment of widespread public and political Islamophobia, and according to Bayoumi (2008), Islamophobia has become a political phenomenon exploited by politicians.

Because policies and practices emerge from racializing Muslims and considering them as dangerous, the politicization of Islamophobia leads to institutionalized racism. As a result, Black Muslim pupils are expected to attend schools that reflect society's Islamophobic attitudes. Islamophobia manifests itself in a variety of ways at schools, but one link between Islamophobia and anti-Black racism is how students interact with the police.

As subjects of intersecting systems of discrimination in the United States, Black Muslim pupils are subjected to increased surveillance and punishment (Rahman, 2021). When authorities criminalize and target Muslim adolescents and communities, Muslims face increased threats of violence and prejudice in schools (Ali, 2018). This is especially common among Black Muslim students, who are already subjected to criminalization and police harassment as a result of their race.

Institutionalized Racism

Racism has an impact on Black Muslim students, which should be considered because preconceptions and attitudes they've encountered have helped to institutionalize racism (Ahmed & Muhammad, 2019). For example, Black Muslim students face disproportionate amounts of occurrences of racial profiling and harassment, as well as incarceration, profiling, police, and arrest (Ahmed & Muhammad, 2019). These kinds of incidents exacerbate the school-to-prison pipeline, which disproportionately impacts Black people.

The school-to-prison pipeline has not been adequately explored in connection to Black Muslim kids, but it should be because both Black and Muslim children come into touch with the police in school settings and are treated unjustly and perceived as threats because of their race or religion. While there is literature on Black students' experiences and interactions with the prison system, there is none on Muslim students' experiences, particularly Black Muslim students' experiences. For example, following 9/11, Muslims were imprisoned and interrogated at random because of their religious beliefs (Bayoumi, 2008), and they became more likely to encounter the authorities.

The school-to-prison pipeline should be studied further when examining how their identity as Black and Muslim individuals makes Black Muslim children more susceptible to policing within schools for both their race and religion. Ahmed and Muhammad (2019) discuss how African-American Muslim teenagers are subjected to racial profiling and harassment. In addition, they are disproportionately imprisoned, profiled, policed, and arrested (Kerby, 2012). They are more likely to be sentenced to adult prison and have greater rates of juvenile detention.

Black Muslims are overtly Black before they are visibly Muslim due to physical traits of race. As a result, when comprehending the experiences of Black Muslim children in K-12 education in the United States, the experiences that are more distinctive to Black kids should be explored. Their experiences as religious minorities will only add to their racial minority experiences.

Racial profiling and harassment are common among black Muslim youngsters. They are also jailed, profiled, policed, and arrested in disproportionate numbers. They are more likely to be sentenced to adult prison and have greater rates of juvenile detention.

Black Muslims are overtly Black before they are visibly Muslim due to physical traits of race. When studying the experiences of Black Muslim kids in K-12 education in the United States, it is important to examine their unique circumstances.

Anti-Black Racism and Islamophobia collide

Due to Black Muslim children being frequently discriminated against because of their ethnicity and religion, it's important to think about how this will affect their school experiences. According to Auston (2017), we are living in a historical period marked by the intersection of state-sanctioned anti-Black racism and widespread Islamophobia. Furthermore, Beydoun (2018) makes a similar point, claiming that anti-Black racism and Islamophobia are spreading and merging, resulting in nasty and violent outcomes.

Due to physical characteristics of race, Black Muslims are blatantly Black before being publicly Muslim. It's critical to look at the particular situations of Black Muslim children in K-12 schooling in the United States when researching their experiences.

Islamophobia and anti-black racism combine.

Because Black Muslim children are routinely discriminated against based on their race and religion, it's critical to consider how this will affect their educational experiences. According to Auston (2017), we are living in a time when state-sanctioned anti-Black racism and widespread Islamophobia are colliding. Similarly, Beydoun (2018) asserts that anti-Black racism and Islamophobia are growing and mixing, resulting in ugly and violent effects.

Mauleón (2018), for example, illustrates how reducing Muslim identity may only serve to make Black Muslims more vulnerable to policing that targets Blacks, while reducing Black identity may only serve to increase their exposure as Muslims. Individuals of color and Muslims have been challenged with policies that have created a more hostile atmosphere for them since policies have been inspired by the perception of both minoritized groups as dangers (Cole et al., 2020). This is crucial to consider because the convergence of anti-Black and anti-Muslim laws and regulations oppresses and controls Black Muslims, which then filters through the educational system.

Black Muslims are at a crossroads of scrutiny and police, where both Black and Muslim people have been targets of over-policing and mass monitoring, reinforcing the view of both groups as inherently violent and threatening (Mauleón, 2018). 41. Because racism is profoundly ingrained in institutions, policies, and practices, it is unsurprising that policing happens in schools, which represents societal ideas. Black Muslim kids are more likely to be racialized and influenced by the aggregation of both their Black and Muslim identities when policing happens in schools.

Conclusion

To summarise, understanding how anti-Black racism and Islamophobia influence the difficulties Black Muslim students face as a result of their racial and religious identities is critical to understanding their educational experiences. Furthermore, it is critical to comprehend the complexities of their educational environment in order to better comprehend the impact it has on their growth (Ahmed & Muhammad, 2019).

Lopez and Jean-Marie (2021) emphasize the need for educators to study how Black kids are influenced by systematic anti-Black racism and how those practices are perpetuated if Black students are to attain their full potential in the education system schools. There should also be an analysis of how anti-Black racism and Islamophobia connect and are reinforced through institutionalized racism for Black Muslim students.

CRSA can also be used to study how urban areas have structural and institutional elements that influence the educational experiences and possibilities for Black Muslim students based on their race (Vélez & Solórzano, 2017) (And religion). When attempting to comprehend what Black Muslim kids face in the educational system, it is critical to consider the urban regions in which they live.

Resistance in Education

Despite institutionalized racism, anti-Black racism, and Islamophobia, Black Muslim students learn to oppose oppression and embrace their racial, religious, and national identities (Rahman, 2021). According to Auston (2017), the battle for racial equality and religious freedom among Black Muslims in the United States has always been characterized by numerous fronts of resistance against state authority, anti-Blackness, and White supremacy.

Consider the experiences of Black Muslim students in K-12 education and how they navigate spaces where state power, anti-Blackness, and White supremacy are present when considering how the education system continues to perpetuate racism that is deeply embedded in institutions, policies, and practices. We can't grasp what Black Muslims have gone through without looking at the intersection of anti-Black racism and Islamophobia that has affected the experiences of Black Muslim students both in and out of school.

It is critical that individuals working in education take into account the experiences of Black Muslim pupils, as anti-Black racism and Islamophobia are kinds of oppression they face in the classroom. As previously stated, the under theorization and underrepresentation of Black Muslim students has been interpreted as an anti-Black viewpoint that ignores Black Muslims' contributions and experiences. If we want schools to be welcoming and supportive of all children, we must prioritize the views of those who have long been marginalized.