Survey finds U.S. Muslims happy, despite perceived discrimination

A new poll shows that a majority of Muslim-Americans feel singled out by U.S. anti-terrorism policies and many say they have increasingly been the victim of threats and harassment by airport security, law enforcement officers, and others.

The poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center, found that despite feeling singled out by the government Muslim-Americans are satisfied with life in the United States and have no sense of rising alienation or anger.

”This confirms what we’ve said all along, American Muslims are well integrated and happy, but with a kind of lingering sense of being besieged by growing anti-Muslim sentiment in our society,’ said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Hooper said that discrimination remains a big concern for the Muslim community in the United States.

“People contact us every day about concerns they’ve had, particularly with law enforcement authorities in this post 9/11 era,” he said.

52 percent of the Muslim-Americans respondents said they felt singled out for terrorist surveillance by the government, while 43 percent said they had personally been harassed in the past year.

More specifically, 28 percent said they had been treated or viewed suspiciously by people, 22 percent reported that they had been called offensive names, 21 percent replied that they had been singled out at airports because they were Muslim, 13 percent felt that they had been targeted by law enforcement officials, and roughly 6 per cent said they had been physically threatened or attacked.

But more American Muslims see these anti-terror policies as “sincere” efforts to reduce international terrorism than those who do not. Currently 43 percent view these efforts as sincere compared to 41 percent who do not, a marked change from four years ago when 55 percent viewed U.S. policies as insincere and 26 percent viewed them as sincere.

In addition 79 percent of American Muslims consider their communities as “excellent” or “good” places to live, even those who reported vandalism at nearby mosques or controversies over proposed Islamic centers.

Compared to the general U.S. public, American Muslims are more satisfied with the current direction of the country – 56 percent answering affirmatively while only 23 percent of the general public answered similarly.

In contrast in 2007, the first time Pew surveyed Muslim-Americans, only 38 percent of respondents were satisfied with the current direction of the country, while 32 percent of the U.S. public was satisfied.

Andrew Kohut, the president of the Pew Research Center, said he was surprised by how satisfied Muslim-Americans were overall with their lives.

“I was concerned about a bigger sense of alienation, but there was not,” he said.

“You don’t see any indication of brewing negativity. When you look at their attitudes, these are still middle-class, mainstream people who want to be loyal to America.”