In the past two decades Europe saw a marked growth in racism against immigrants, aimed at countering their social rooting and belitling their social value. As an element of the inferiorization of immigration, racism has also targeted the cultural capital of immigrants. The most acute, widespread and profound form was Islamophobia – the spearhead of the current racist discourse. Understanding the term cultural capital in its broader sense, the article analyzes Islamophobia as an example of denial of the cultural potential of immigration; it also discusses the social roots, topics, mechanisms and actors of Islamophobia and its social consequences.