Although I wonder how "new" the spirit is. Most mosques I've been to are pretty much integrated. Congregations in downtown areas or near college campuses tend to have a balanced mix between African-American, Arab and Desi members. Neighborhood congregations reflect the population of the neighborhood.
On the other hand, I grew up going to a Hispanic church which is currently right across the alley from a white church of the same denomination!
Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation in local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing: "In Christ There Is No East Nor West."~Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958 (source)
That's not to say that things are perfect in the mosque. Sometimes interactions across ethnic lines don't go much deeper than a salaam and a smile. But (unlike many churches) at least people are worshiping together, and praying in the same line. And then their kids are playing together, and going to the same Islamic schools and programs. And pretty soon... that's how you get the kind of interactions mentioned in the Newsweek piece. It is interesting to think about what the future will hold in terms of Muslims and race-relations in the US.
(courtesy of negrophile)
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