The majority of America’s Muslims say they are worried by U.S. President Donald Trump and harbor a great concern about their place in U.S. society.
Still, new data suggests most are holding on to their belief in the American dream.
The latest survey of Muslims in America from the Pew Research Center finds 68 percent of U.S. Muslims say Trump makes them feel worried, compared to 60 percent of the general public that said it feels the same. Just more than a quarter of the those surveyed said the president makes them hopeful, and even less say Trump makes them happy.
About 3 in 4 Muslims told surveyors that Trump is unfriendly toward the religious group — a noticeable shift from 2011, when only 27 percent of Muslims in the U.S. said former President Barack Obama was unfriendly toward them.
The worry fits into a wider sense of uncertainty among members of the religious group, two-thirds of whom said they perceive “a lot of discrimination” against Muslims in America.
Half of America’s Muslims said being Muslim in the U.S. has gotten more difficult in recent years, a number that has remained fairly constant over the past 10 years, according to Pew.
Roughly half of Muslims also said they personally experienced at least one instance of religious discrimination in the past year, and 62 percent said their fellow Americans don’t see Islam as part of mainstream society.
Yet, America’s Muslims still remain optimistic.
Respondents overwhelming said they are proud to be American, and largely believe that most can get ahead in society with hard work. The majority said they are satisfied with the direction of their own lives, even as nearly two-thirds of America’s Muslims said they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, according to the findings.
Surveyors collected data from 1,001 Muslim adults living in the U.S., speaking over the phone with Muslims originally from at least 75 nations — the vast majority of whom are now U.S. citizens. It was conducted Jan. 23 to May 2, marking the third time Pew has surveyed this segment of the population.
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America’s Muslims Are Worried by President Donald Trump, Concerned About Place in Society originally appeared on usnews.com
