#14 Copts and Race in America
Copts and race in America is certainly an interesting subject that brings to mind many questions, particular incidents and views. For example, after 911, on September 15, 2001, Adel Karas, a forty-eight-year-old Coptic Christian, and father of three, was shot and killed at his convenience store in San Gabriel, California. Most likely mistaken for a Muslim by his perpetrators. The second bizarre incident is one that my guest mentioned previously, of a young Copt visiting the Bible Museum in DC and was arrested for no reason and interrogated by the FBI. Again, another case of stereotyping and mistaken identity. How does American society and politicians in DC in particular view the Copts, do they consider us a single-issue race, meaning that we are only interested in the plight of the Copts in Egypt or is this view changing and Copts now are more involved in many issues concerning wider American life? These and many other questions concerning Copts and race in America will be discussed in this episode with my special guest Dr Candace Lukasik.
Resources:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19436149.2016.1144910
https://publicorthodoxy.org/2019/03/12/rami-malek-and-contentions-of-coptic-identity/
https://www.candacelukasik.com/research
https://thecchp.com/2019/10/27/interview-with-candace-lukasik-transnational-anxieties/
Supplemental Resources:
https://sojo.net/articles/american-protestantisms-commodification-middle-east-s-holy-lands
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40543386?seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41858491?seq=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gb8cP1Eiuk
https://elmahabacenter.com https://thecchp.com/2020/06/03/a-coptic-call-for-solidarity/