Prejudice against Muslims higher than towards any other group in US, poll finds

A recent poll published by The Brookings Institution reveals that positive attitudes towards Muslims in the United States have declined, and public prejudice against them remains higher than any other religious, ethnic, or racial group.

The University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll (UMDCIP), conducted between July 26 and August 1, surveyed American public attitudes concerning Islam and Muslims. The poll focused on two main areas: the change in American views towards Islam and Muslims, and the level of prejudice towards various racial, religious, and ethnic groups, including Jews and Muslims.

Overall, while there was a general increase in positive views towards Muslims and Islam over the past year, the findings show a significant decline compared to 2022. Favorable views of Muslims dropped from 78 percent to 64 percent, and positive attitudes towards Islam decreased to 48 percent.

The decline in favorable views of Muslims was observed among both Democrats and Republicans, with a more pronounced drop among Republicans. In February 2024, 52 percent of Republicans viewed Muslims favorably, but by July 2024, this figure had fallen to 46 percent. Among Democrats, the decline was from 83 percent in February to 80 percent in July.

The survey sampled 1,510 American adults, with additional focus on 202 Black respondents and 200 Hispanic respondents.

Anti-Muslim versus anti-Jewish sentiment

Following Israel’s war on Gaza, there has been a dramatic increase in incidents of hate and prejudice against both Jews and Muslims globally.

Prejudice toward Jews and Judaism is included in the poll for the first time. 

Among all respondents, favourable views of Muslims were at 64 percent and 48 percent for Islam while it stood at 86 percent for Jews and 77 percent for Judaism.

“The gap between attitudes toward people and religion is not uncommon and has been consistently found in our previous polling, particularly toward Muslims,” the poll says. 

Another key factor is race. While only nine percent of white people view Jews as unfavourable, 37 percent of white people view Muslims as unfavourable. Among Black and Hispanic people, the difference is less stark, with 29 percent of Black people viewing Muslims as unfavourable, and 21 percent for Jews. For Hispanics, 33 percent view Muslims unfavourably, with 22 percent for Jews. 

College education, familiarity and personal relationships with Jews and Muslims are significant contributing factors that lead to more favourable views towards both Jews and Muslims, according to the poll.

Generational gap

The poll shows that younger Americans have more favourable views towards Jews than Muslims overall, but there is a generational gap. Americans under 30 still have more favourable opinions of Muslims and Islam than Americans aged 30 and over. 

While factors explaining this trend still need probing, the reason for the less favourable views of Jews among young people may be the fact that white people tend to have more favourable views of Jews than non-whites, although the share of white people among younger Americans is smaller.  

Prejudice toward Muslims is also higher than other groups when it comes to their perceived contributions to American society, the poll says. 

Polling shows that only one-third (37 percent) of Americans believe Muslims strengthen American society, while a majority of Americans say the same about every other ethnic, racial and religious group. 

Young Americans (under 30) have identical views of the degree to which Muslims and Jews strengthen American society, but older Americans believe Jews (55 percent) contribute far more to American society than Muslims (32 percent).

The lowest figure is found among older Republican Americans, with only 21 percent believing Muslims contribute to American society.