Abstract
Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police in 2020, many South Asian-American Muslims (SAAMs) have engaged in discussions surrounding race and racism in the United States. It is with this context that I explore why despite being a racialized and oppressed group, SAAMs do not have large scale coalitions with Black liberation movements. I find that factors such as the model minority image, hyper-selectivity in the immigration process and racism in the era of colorblindness heavily contribute to the lack of Black-SAAM solidarity. Despite this, I argue in this thesis that SAAMs have a moral and political duty to resist anti-Blackness and stand in solidarity with Black people. Some of the arguments that are often used to justify an obligation to obey the law in a just society—such as the natural duty of justice, the principle of fairness, and the Samaritan duty—can also be used to generate a duty to resist in the face of injustice. In addition, I argue that SAAMs must get comfortable with forms of protest and resistance which are not civil since non-violence may not always yield the most effective outcomes. Interracial solidarity is the key to achieving true justice in the United States, and SAAMs must participate in any way they can and fulfill their duty to resist.