Alisa Perkins
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781479828012
- eISBN:
- 9781479877218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479828012.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter discusses how Muslim and non-Muslim American residents in Hamtramck became embroiled in contestation over a proposed municipal ordinance involving the rights of LGBTQ residents to equal ...
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This chapter discusses how Muslim and non-Muslim American residents in Hamtramck became embroiled in contestation over a proposed municipal ordinance involving the rights of LGBTQ residents to equal access in housing, employment, and public accommodation. The issue brought about an identity rupture between progressives and conservatives in the city, sundering interfaith relationships that had been formed earlier, while new alliances were being built. The chapter analyzes how a sense of moral urgency onboth sides contributed to a temporal sensibility shift that I call “ordinance time.” This schema entailed a loosening of civility standards in rhetorical comportment, encouraging the public expression of Islamophobia and homophobia. In attending to both the pace and tenor of social relations during this tense period, the chapter considers the essentialism attached to religious and secular moralities, while addressing how the municipal debate influenced boundary formation processes.Less
This chapter discusses how Muslim and non-Muslim American residents in Hamtramck became embroiled in contestation over a proposed municipal ordinance involving the rights of LGBTQ residents to equal access in housing, employment, and public accommodation. The issue brought about an identity rupture between progressives and conservatives in the city, sundering interfaith relationships that had been formed earlier, while new alliances were being built. The chapter analyzes how a sense of moral urgency onboth sides contributed to a temporal sensibility shift that I call “ordinance time.” This schema entailed a loosening of civility standards in rhetorical comportment, encouraging the public expression of Islamophobia and homophobia. In attending to both the pace and tenor of social relations during this tense period, the chapter considers the essentialism attached to religious and secular moralities, while addressing how the municipal debate influenced boundary formation processes.
Steven T. Moga
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780226710532
- eISBN:
- 9780226710679
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226710679.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
Between 1870 and 1940 urban lowland neighborhoods could be found in many American cities. Newspaper journalists, elected officials, and urban experts frequently blamed residents for water and ...
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Between 1870 and 1940 urban lowland neighborhoods could be found in many American cities. Newspaper journalists, elected officials, and urban experts frequently blamed residents for water and sanitation problems, stigmatizing people according to place. Municipal debates over what to do about these places and the people who lived there revealed a paradox. Spatial containment of poor people, immigrants, and African Americans in low-lying districts provoked disease fears and stimulated reform efforts. In the early twentieth century, many housing experts and planners incorporated racist and xenophobic attitudes about lowland residents into social surveys and government reports. Since the 1970s, oral histories, museum exhibits, and public history projects have documented the history of these neighborhoods. Hurricane Katrina catalyzed new research on environmental hazards, specifically the connections between race, class, elevation, and flood risk. This introduction concludes with a brief introduction of the four case studies and a description of the structure of the book.Less
Between 1870 and 1940 urban lowland neighborhoods could be found in many American cities. Newspaper journalists, elected officials, and urban experts frequently blamed residents for water and sanitation problems, stigmatizing people according to place. Municipal debates over what to do about these places and the people who lived there revealed a paradox. Spatial containment of poor people, immigrants, and African Americans in low-lying districts provoked disease fears and stimulated reform efforts. In the early twentieth century, many housing experts and planners incorporated racist and xenophobic attitudes about lowland residents into social surveys and government reports. Since the 1970s, oral histories, museum exhibits, and public history projects have documented the history of these neighborhoods. Hurricane Katrina catalyzed new research on environmental hazards, specifically the connections between race, class, elevation, and flood risk. This introduction concludes with a brief introduction of the four case studies and a description of the structure of the book.
