Backlash 9/11 investigates what happened to Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans (and non-Muslim South Asians, such as Sikhs) after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. The book is based on research conducted between 2001 and 2003 and consists primarily of interviews with leaders of fifty Middle Eastern and Muslim community-based organizations, coupled with scrutiny of media reportage and scholarship. African American Muslims and American converts to Islam are excluded because these populations were not targets of government initiatives after 9/11 (p. 8). The book's authors first argue that the attacks of 9/11 stimulated a backlash against Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans as well as Sikhs who were mistakenly assumed to be Muslim or connected with Osama bin Laden. This backlash had both a popular and an official component: it included hate crimes such as verbal harassment, destruction of property, murder, and workplace discrimination, and repressive state initiatives such as surveillance, discriminatory deportations, detentions, and racial profiling. Bakalian and Bozorgmehr then argue that Middle Eastern and Muslim community organizations responded by mobilizing to represent American-based Muslims to the broader American public, educate non-Muslims about Middle Easterners and Muslims, and advocate for the civil rights of Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans. These organizations also encouraged Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans to become active in local organizations such as parent–teacher associations, register for and vote in elections, and cooperate with law-enforcement agencies. The authors then argue that such mobilization integrated Middle Easterners and Muslims into American society and caused a “Muslim moment” wherein organizations promoted a distinct “American Muslim” identity that blended Islamic and American democratic and civil-rights principles (p. 251).

Bakalian and Bozorgmehr begin their study by situating their work within sociological theory and existing studies of Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans. They then review previous backlash incidents in American history, such as those against Germans during World War I, Japanese during World War II, Iranians during the Iranian hostage crisis, and communists during the early 1920s and later and compare them to the 9/11 backlash. All of these cases included government initiatives that were primarily political, because they did not increase national security or yield useful intelligence information. The authors argue that the post-9/11 repressive state measures were less severe than the earlier backlash incidents. The legacy of the American civil-rights movement, the presence of organizations that defend Americans' civil rights (the American Civil Liberties Union and American Friends Service Committee), and the high cost of reparations for the World War II Japanese internment combined to restrain the state's actions.

Chapter 3 provides demographic information about Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans based on census and other survey data that the authors admit are imperfect, partly because of how the U.S. government classifies (and does not classify) its citizens. For example, because Middle Eastern Americans are classified as white by the Office of Management and Budget, and the U.S. constitution prevents government agencies from collecting data on religious affiliation, the decennial census, typically the main source for demographic information on minorities, is difficult to use. This chapter includes useful charts summarizing demographic trends (pp. 84–93). The authors indicate that although Middle Eastern identities have become racialized since 9/11, community leaders reported that many Middle Easterners residing in the United States applied for naturalization after 9/11 because of government policies targeting noncitizen Middle Easterners (p. 89).

Chapter 4 presents sociological scholarship on community-based organizations and the characteristics of the fifty organizations studied by the authors. Chapter 5 describes post-9/11 hate crimes and bias incidents suffered by Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans and Sikhs residing in the United States. In Chapter 6, the authors discuss the government initiatives that contributed to the backlash, which included detentions, deportations of individuals out of visa compliance, increased surveillance under the PATRIOT Act, so-called voluntary interviews with government agents, and the registration of Middle Easterners and foreign nationals. A timeline of the specific initiatives is provided in an appendix. Bakalian and Bozorgmehr point out that although deported individuals were out of compliance with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Middle Easterners were disproportionately targeted.

In Chapter 7, the authors focus on how Muslim and Middle Eastern community organizations responded to the backlash. After 9/11, these organizations provided a public face for Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans, conducted educational outreach, advocated for the civil rights of Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans, and built coalitions with civil-liberties organizations. The discussion of coalition building continues in Chapter 8, where the authors describe interfaith activities between Muslims and non-Muslims as well as public recognition of community organizations by major philanthropic groups. Bakalian and Bozorgmehr conclude the chapter and book with a summary and restatement of their argument.

Backlash 9/11 is enormously useful for readers who want general information about Middle Eastern and Muslim populations in the United States and an overview of what happened to them after the 9/11 attacks. Readers will get a clear sense of the scope of the backlash and how community-based organizations responded. The authors' comparative perspective is particularly helpful for clarifying the magnitude of repressive state actions. Those who are interested in learning more about how sociologists have theorized ethnicity and mobilization (e.g., intergroup conflict, pan-ethnicity, claims making, and frame analysis) will also find that here. The book does not provide a detailed portrait of how any particular group was affected by or responded to 9/11 nor does it clarify the extent to which ordinary Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans engaged in the many activities that community-based organizations arranged after 9/11. Even so, Backlash 9/11 is informative, clearly written, and timely.