Daily Times

Our Washington D.C. Correspondent

Extraordinary levels of Islamaphobia and an explosion of anti- Muslim rhetoric means U.S. Muslims are internalising stigmatisation to adopt stereotypes about themselves and their community; however, this year a record number have registered to vote and are running for office.

According to the third annual poll published this week by the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), a Washington D.C. and Michigan based think tank, Muslims are more likely than other faith groups to agree with the perception that their community is “more prone to negative behaviour than other people” – the figure is 30 percent for Muslims, compared with 13 percent of Jews and 12 percent of Catholics.

The ISPU’s poll surveyed around 2,500 Americans from different faiths that included Muslims, Jews, Catholics Protestants, white evangelicals and non-affiliated individuals.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Dalia Mogahead, ISPU’s director of research and an adviser on Muslim affairs during the Obama administration, said, “One of the most important and surprising findings we got in this study was the degree to which Muslims have themselves internalised negative stereotypes about their community.”

The first-ever national Islamaphobia Index, included in the report measures the level of U.S. anti-Muslim sentiment through its poll, which measures different faith and non-faith groups’ endorsement of anti- Muslim rhetoric.

The report also said that many Muslims who have adopted these stereotypes have been influenced by the American media’s negative depiction of Muslims as “more prone to violence than other people” -18 percent for Muslims compared with 13 percent for the non-affiliated groups and eight percent for the general public.

The report states “someone perceived to be Muslim and accused of a terror plot will receive seven-and-a-half times the media coverage as someone not perceived to be Muslim.”

Citing a 2017 Georgia State University study, that considered fatalities, target type and whether the perpetrator was arrested – the researchers discovered that attacks by Muslims received 357 percent ‘more coverage than other attacks’.

The report also detailed a 2015 study conducted by Media Tenor that found those representations of Muslims in films and television was overwhelmingly that of fighters, while protagonists representing other faith groups were shown as religious leaders. However, according to John Esposito, professor of religion, international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University, “Animus towards U.S. Muslims can’t solely be attributed to negative American media coverage or Hollywood’s skewed depiction, but elected officials and legislation that have contributed to the link between Islam and terrorism.

Esposito continued that Trump has significantly reduced the number of people he interacts with to anti- Muslim hawks that include: the first national security adviser, [Michael] Flynn, the current adviser, [John] Bolton, [Mike] Pompeo and Jeff Sessions. Each one of the appointees named has been accused of espousing ant- Muslim sentiment.

Pompeo, who was confirmed by Trump’s administration last week, received a distinguished honour from ACT for America, a U.S.-based anti-Muslim, group dedicated to combating what it describes as ‘the threat of radical Islam.’ Critics of the group include the Anti Defamation League who accuse it of being an anti-Muslim hate group; John Bolton chaired an anti-Muslim think tank that promoted misleading and false anti-Muslim news.

However, the ISPU found – despite the internal negative stereotypes, negative media coverage, and pervasive U.S. anti-Muslim political rhetoric – that Muslims were becoming more politically engaged.

According to the ISPU report, almost 75 percent of Muslims said they were registered to vote in 2018, an increase of seven percentage points compared to last year’s figures; and a steady increase of eight percent recorded for 2016 figures.

This year shall also see an unprecedented number of American Muslims – over 90 – running for office. Although almost all Democrats, this marks an extraordinary rise for a minority group that has traditionally been underrepresented in U.S. politics.

“While things are increasingly harder, the response by many Muslims is greater engagement, not isolation… Muslims are less satisfied with the direction of the country,” said Mogahed.

Published in Daily Times, May 6^th 2018.