Fear in Our Hearts: What Islamophobia Tells Us about America

In Fear in Our Hearts : What Islamophobia Tells Us about America (NYU Press, 2021), Elfenbein argues that anti-Muslim activity grows out of a fear of difference that has always characterized US public life. He situates anti-Muslim sentiment and activity within broader histories and realities of anti-Black racism, immigration, identity, belonging, and citizenship in the United States. Drawing on over 1,800 news reports documenting anti-Muslim activity in his Mapping Islamophobia project, Elfenbein pinpoints trends in anti-Muslim activity and examines how Muslim communities have responded.

Through this research, Elfenbein documents how American Muslim communities have sought to develop connections with non-Muslims through unprecedented levels of community transparency, outreach, and public engagement efforts. Despite the hostile environment that has made these efforts necessary, American Muslims have faced down their own fears to offer a model for building communities and creating more welcoming conditions of public life for everyone.

Arguing that anti-Muslim activity tells us as much about the state of core American values in general as it does about the particular experiences of American Muslims, Fear In Our Hearts offers practical ideas about how we can create a more welcoming public life for all in our everyday lives.

Join us as an attendee
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Noon Central Standard Time