by Charles Kurzman, ISLAMiCommentary, February 13, 2014:
Islamic terrorism has proved to be a relatively small threat to public safety in America since 9/11. Isolated individuals have engaged in sporadic violence such as the Boston Marathon bombings, but radicalization has remained far more limited than security officials feared. A report issued this month by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security shows that the number of Muslim-American terrorism suspects and perpetrators remained low in 2013.
Yet American attitudes toward Muslim-Americans have grown more negative in recent years. Eight surveys since 9/11, most of them conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, have asked random samples of adult Americans whether they have a “favorable†or “unfavorable†view of Muslim-Americans. As shown in the top graph, the proportion answering “unfavorable†has increased over time: before 2006, all five surveys found “unfavorable†rates of 26 percent or lower; in the four surveys between 2006 and 2012, only one found “unfavorable†rates that low.
These numbers are still considerably less than positive responses, but they suggest that a growing segment of the American population is willing to express negative views about Muslim-Americans in recent years. Continue reading Anti-Muslim Sentiment Rising in the U.S: What Is Happening to Religious Tolerance?
