Sections focus on subjects such as living in an increased state of surveillance, and how specific groups are targeted (this intersects nicely with the reading I did of Angela Davis!), looks closely at Islamophobia and then even more closely at how bad it is in Tennessee (phew, very hard to read), undocumented youth, and the impact of Ferguson and the militarized police (oh hi Angela Davis again!)Īlthough she examines the almost current state of America, she also shows and suggests how people can work together through religious differences and from different marginalized groups, how to build bridges between us, and how to stand up to the authorities. I should say that this book covers up to 2015 bordering on 2016, and reading it in the context of 2017 made me want to evaluate each statement and policy, wondering how much has already changed. Deepa Iyer looks at the plight of a certain sub-segment of immigrants in America post-9/11, but also steps back and looks at Hispanic and Black Americans as well. My book club chose this book back in the summer for this year's season, not even knowing how important it would become. In a book that reframes the discussion of race in America, a brilliant young activist provides ideas from the front lines of post-9/11 America. She looks at topics including Islamophobia in the Bible Belt the “Bermuda Triangle” of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim hysteria and the energy of new reform movements, including those of “undocumented and unafraid” youth and Black Lives Matter.

Iyer asks whether hate crimes should be considered domestic terrorism and explores the role of the state in perpetuating racism through detentions, national registration programs, police profiling, and constant surveillance.

In We Too Sing America, nationally renowned activist Deepa Iyer catalogs recent racial flashpoints, from the 2012 massacre at the Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, to the violent opposition to the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and to the Park 51 Community Center in Lower Manhattan. We may be less aware, however, of the ongoing racism directed against these groups in the past decade and a half. Many of us can recall the targeting of South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh people in the wake of 9/11.

We Too Sing America by Deepa Iyer