![]() ![]() Therefore, although informed by phenotypical features, it is not solely confined to this feature. The term includes, but is not restricted to those of middle Eastern appearance, or of South Asian or Arabic heritage, as well as others outside of this phenotypical category, that is, white converts to Islam. It is a term used to describe racialized processes, that is, socially constructed racial categorizations informed by socio-political conditions. It is important to note here that use of the term “brown body/ies” takes from wider discussions of “browning” processes ( Patel, 2017). This is a term I use to refer to all those of real or perceived membership of the Muslim faith, who (regardless of any evidence of illegal behaviour) are marked out as members of a “suspect community” ( Patel, 2012: 212). Far from achieving a post-race state, it is argued that race and racism are in reality, still used to socially order society and now more than ever is being used to specifically criminalize those BME groups of (real or perceived) Muslim background-what I call “brown bodies” ( Patel, 2012). To test the claim of a post-race state, the article begins by drawing on international examples to illustrate the continued use of a racialized narrative that constructs some BMEs as problematic, deviant and undesirable. The article uses the case of the UK counter-terror context and some of its widely adopted sub-measures, to illustrate how “brown” members of the black and minority ethnic (BME) population, continue to be viewed as problematic and deviant, within a post-race era. The aim of this article is to examine the claim that we are now living in a post-race society where racial equality has been achieved and anti-discrimination measures have become redundant. This article is published as part of a collection on racism in counter-terrorism and surveillance discourse. The article ends noting its support for that body of literature that critiques the claim that we are now living in a post-race state. This ensures that anti-Muslim racism remains a key feature of contemporary British society. This process draws on a “post-colonial fantasy” and re-uses established practices of “race-consumption” to control brown bodies. Turning its focus to the United Kingdom, although offering an analysis applicable to other countries with similar racialized conditions, the article discusses how sub-measures under current counter-terror discourse not only serve to control and regulate Muslim populations, but more so, the civilizing undertone of its Western (or, British) values and national security narrative continue to normalize and perpetuate anti-Muslim sentiment and construct Muslims as “suspect” communities at every possible opportunity. The article considers how race and racism are still in reality, used to socially order society-and specifically criminalize those black and minority ethnic groups of (real or perceived) Muslim background-what I call “brown bodies”. Using a range of international examples, this article examines the ways in which members of the black and minority ethnic population continue to be viewed as problematic and deviant, challenging the claim that we are now living in a post-race state.
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