Marriage in colour: race, religion and spouse selection in four American mosques

Abstract

In this study, marriage serves as the point of entry into discussions about race, religion, and identity in American mosques. The experience of minority status in the US shapes the ways Muslim immigrants construct difference. The intersections of race, class, gender and religion emerge as Arab and South Asian Muslim Americans talk about interracial marriage and preferences for lighter-skinned mates. Muslim American children of immigrants test the boundaries of what constitutes an eligible spouse by drawing on religious sources that challenge their parents’ ideologies of colour and racial prejudices. Islam serves as a common moral ground between generations that came of age in different cultures, creating a space for negotiating conflicting visions. Long after religion has faded as the cornerstone of social protest against racism in the US, Muslim youth in American mosques revive it in debates about race and colour.