There’s a lot of discourse lately around the anti-Muslim rhetoric thrown at Muslims running for office. From Abdul El-Sayed to Zohran Mamdani, attacks on Muslim candidates on the basis of their religious and ethnic identities have been extensively catalogued. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) called El-Sayed a “terrorist.” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) described “every single Muslim holding public office in America” as a threat to national security. Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy last year resulted in the same tired allegations of terrorism, Sharia-takeover, dual-loyalties, and communism. President Donald Trump ultimately declared that “jihadists” are “being elected all over the place.”

These tirades have been interpreted to mean that the American Right has an Islamophobia problem and that we just have to ‘power through’ it – meaning if we put our heads down and work hard enough and remind these people about the Constitution, we’ll make it through this difficult time like so many other marginalized groups targeted before us. 

But it’s more accurate to say that the United States is founded on a system of racial capitalism that makes this type of exclusionary politics inevitable. 

Racial Capitalism v. Individualized Racism 

Racial capitalism was coined by Cedric Robinson in his 1983 book, Black Marxism, which he defined as the unequal valuation of human life and labor along racial lines. It is the exploitation of racialized labor and indigenous land that makes the accumulation of wealth for a few possible. 

Racial capitalism was coined by Cedric Robinson in his 1983 book, Black Marxism, which he defined as the unequal valuation of human life and labor along racial lines. It is the exploitation of racialized labor and indigenous land that makes the accumulation of wealth for a few possible. 

For all the public discourse in the United States around increased........

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