Jen’nan Ghazal Read in the Fall 2008 issue of Contexts:
Clearly, many Americans are convinced Muslim Americans pose some kind of threat to American society.
Two widespread assumptions fuel these fears. First, that there’s only one kind of Islam and one kind of Muslim, both characterized by violence and anti-democratic tendencies. Second, that being a Muslim is the most salient identity for Muslim Americans when it comes to their political attitudes and behaviors, that it trumps their social class position, national origin, racial/ethnic group membership, or gender-or worse, that it trumps their commitment to a secular democracy.
Research on Muslim Americans themselves supports neither of these assumptions. […]
Read the full article here.