Skip to main content

Civil Liberties or Civil Rights? Muslim American Advocacy Organizations

  • Chapter
Islamic Organizations in Europe and the USA

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology ((PSEPS))

Abstract

This chapter considers the extent to which two of the most prominent Muslim American advocacy organizations have been able to follow in the footsteps of the Civil Rights Movement as they have sought to confront Islamophobia in the USA. These two organizations — the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — have long been at the forefront of Muslim American advocacy. Their work took on extra urgency in 2001, and that urgency has hardly subsided in recent years. Organizations like MPAC and CAIR work on behalf of a large and growing Muslim American community, thought to number as high as seven million (CAIR, 2012a).1

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Andrews, K. T. and Edwards, B. (2004) ‘Advocacy organizations in the U.S. political process’, Annual Review of Sociology 30, 479–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. M. (1997) The Interest Group Society, 3rd edn (New York: Longman).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003) Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States (New York: Rowman & Littlefield).

    Google Scholar 

  • Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) (2009) US Muslim Coalition Considers Suspending Relations with FBI, http://ca.cair.com/losangeles/news/u.s._muslim_ coalition_considers_suspending_relations_with_fbi, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) (2012a) About Islam, http://cair.com/ american-muslims/about-islam.html, date accessed 21 March 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) (2012b) CAIR at a Glance, http://cair.com/about-us/cair-at-a-glance.html, date accessed 21 March 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) (2012c) Our Vision, Mission, and Core Principles, http://cair.com/about-us/vision-mission-core-principles.html, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • CNN Opinion Research (2010) Poll, http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/08/11/rel11a1a.pdf, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coker, M. (2009) ‘A look at Craig Monteilh, who says he spied on the Islamic Center of Irvine for the Feds’, OC Weekly, http://www.ocweekly.com/2009-03-05/news/craig-monteilh/, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, B. and McCarthy, J. D. (2004) ‘Resources and social movement mobilization’ in Snow, D., Soule, S. and Kriesi, H. (eds) The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements (Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell), pp. 116–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, J. (2010) ‘How the “ground zero mosque” fear mongering began’, Salon, http://www.salon.com/2010/08/16/ground_zero_mosque_origins/, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Espiritu, Y. L. (1991) Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, S. A. (2005) Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Toward the Third Resurrection (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Love, E. (2009) ‘Confronting Islamophobia in the United States: Framing civil rights activism among Middle Eastern Americans’, Patterns of Prejudice 43(3–4), 401–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) (2003) MPAC Asks President to Denounce Hate Crimes, http://www.mpac.org/programs/government-relations/mpac-asks-president-to-denounce-hate-crimes.php, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) (2009) MPAC Helps Kick Off Anti-Racial Profiling Campaign on Capitol Hill, http://www.mpac.org/issues/islamophobia/mpac-helps-kick-off-anti-racial-profiling-campaign-on-capitol-hill.php, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) (2012) History — Muslim Public Affairs Council, http://www.mpac.org/about/history.php, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • New York City Web Site (NYC) (2010) Mayor Bloomberg Discusses the Landmarks Preservation Commission Vote on 45–47 Park Place, http://www.nyc.gov, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okamoto, D. G. (2003) ‘Toward a theory of Panethnicity: Explaining collective action among Asian Americans’, American Sociological Review 68, 811–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omi, M. and Winant, H. ([1986] 1994) Racial Formation in the United States, 2nd edn (New York: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pew Research Center (PEW) (2007) Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream (Washington, DC: Pew Research Center), http://pewresearch.org/files/old-assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philanthropic Research, Inc. (2012a) Nonprofit Report for Council on American Islamic Relations, http://www.guidestar.org, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philanthropic Research, Inc. (2012b) Nonprofit Report for Muslim Public Affairs Council and Nonprofit Report for Muslim Public Affairs Council Foundation, http://www.guidestar.org, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rana, J. (2011) Terrifying Muslims: Race and Labor in the South Asian Diaspora (Durham, NC: Duke University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Roosens, E. E. (1989) Creating Ethnicity: The Process of Ethnogenesis (New York: Sage Publications).

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmon, J. L. (2009) ‘Muslim Americans at odds over FBI contact’, Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702178.html, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skocpol, T. (1999) ‘Advocates without members: The recent transformation of American civic life’ in Skocpol, T. and Fiorina, M. P. (eds) Civic Engagement in American Democracy (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press), pp. 461–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skrentny, J. D. (2002) The Minority Rights Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tehranian, J. (2008) Whitewashed: America’s Invisible Middle Eastern Minority (New York: New York University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe, T. and Glover, S. (2009) ‘Man says he was informant for FBI in Orange county’, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/26/local/me-informant26, date accessed 31 July 2012.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2013 Erik Love

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Love, E. (2013). Civil Liberties or Civil Rights? Muslim American Advocacy Organizations. In: Kortmann, M., Rosenow-Williams, K. (eds) Islamic Organizations in Europe and the USA. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137305589_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics