Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion

ABOUT THE  BOOK: How diversity initiatives end up marginalizing Arab Americans and US Muslims. One of Donald Trump’s first actions as President was to sign an executive order to limit Muslim immigration to the United States, a step toward the “complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” he had campaigned on. This extraordinary act of Islamophobia provoked unprecedented opposition: Hollywood movies and mainstream television shows began to feature more Muslim characters in contexts other than terrorism; universities and private businesses included Muslims in their diversity initiatives; and the criminal justice system took hate crimes against Muslims more seriously. Yet Broken argues that, even amid this challenge to institutionalized Islamophobia, diversity initiatives fail on their promise by only focusing on crisis moments.

Evelyn Alsultany argues that Muslims get included through “crisis diversity,” where high-profile Islamophobic incidents are urgently responded to and then ignored until the next crisis. In the popular cultural arena of television, this means interrogating even those representations of Muslims that others have celebrated as refreshingly positive. What kind of message does it send, for example, when a growing number of “good Muslims” on TV seem to have arrived there, ironically, only after leaving the faith? In the realm of corporations, she critically examines the firing of high-profile individuals for anti-Muslim speech—a remedy that rebrands corporations as anti-racist while institutional racism remains intact. At universities, Muslim students get included in diversity, equity, and inclusion plans but that gets disrupted if they are involved in Palestinian rights activism. Finally, she turns to hate crime laws revealing how they fail to address root causes. 

In each of these arenas, Alsultany finds an institutional pattern that defangs the promise of Muslim inclusion, deferring systemic change until and through the next “crisis.”

Following the presentation, copies ofr Broken will be for sale courtesy of Vroman's Bookstore.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:  Evelyn Alsultany is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media.  Her research, teaching, and lecturing are driven by a commitment to bringing Arab and Muslim Americans into the broader conversation about racial politics in the U.S. Professor Alsultany has served as an educator and consultant for Hollywood studios (Disney, Netflix, NBC Universal) on how to better represent Muslim characters. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Professor Alsultany has won numerous awards for her undergraduate teaching, including the Arthur F. Thurnau professorship. Given the enduring salience of Islamophobia, she seeks to communicate her research to a wide audience within and beyond academia. Professor Alsultany maintains an active public speaking schedule, at the invitation of universities across the country and abroad.

Professor Alsultany will be in conversation with Al-Baab Khan, Program Manager for the Mental Health Storytelling Initiative at USC's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Al-Baab Khan received her MS in global medicine, as well as a BA in neuroscience, with a minor in psychology at USC. During her academic track, Khan discovered her passion for people and understanding ways that the human perspective contributes to popular trends and culture. She fostered this passion by working first as a graduate student worker at the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative across various projects, including the 2022 Mental Health report and then as a project specialist, leading the Initiative's first faith-based inclusion study on Muslim representation in popular television and films. She oversaw the development of this research and helped frame the groundwork for future projects in this space. Her work has been presented to key stakeholders in the Industry and shared across multiple media platforms. Now, Khan steps into a new role as the Program Manager for the Mental Health Storytelling Initiative. In this new position, Khan will develop research and programming opportunities that illuminate, expand, and evaluate the work of Mental Health in the entertainment industry. 

ABOUT THE CLUB: Founded in 1925, the Los Angeles Breakfast Club still thrives with food, friendship, and fun. Our meetings are held in our clubhouse, Friendship Auditorium, located at 3201 Riverside Drive, near the corner of Los Feliz Boulevard, in Griffith Park. Best described as a variety show, attendees enjoy a catered breakfast, silly songs, club traditions, and an interesting presentation from a guest speaker.

TICKETS: Sales on LAbreakfastclub.com close 48 hours before breakfast. Non-members are $25 and Members receive a 25% discount when logged into their Membership Portal. 

Please arrive between 6:45 - 7:00 AM sharp! Doors close at 7:15 AM. Your admission includes a buffet breakfast, enjoyment of our 97-year-old club traditions, plus a special presentation from our Speaker of the Week!

HEALTH & SAFETY: Surgical disposable face masks or medical-grade masks (i.e., KN95, KF94, N95) are strongly recommended when not eating or drinking, especially during the cold and flu season, and will be provided on request.