(RNS) Many Muslim Americans had hoped that the death of Osama bin Laden would improve their image among other Americans, but according to a new survey, just the opposite has happened.
Rather than being mollified, anti-Muslim sentiment has intensified since Navy Seals killed the al-Qaida leader in a May 1 raid in Pakistan, according to a new report by researchers from the Ohio State University School of Communication, Cornell University’s Survey Research Institute, and the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
In the weeks before bin Laden’s death, nearly half of respondents described Muslim Americans as “trustworthy” and “peaceful,” researchers said. After bin Laden’s death, that figure dropped to one-third of respondents.
For Muslims, perhaps the most troublesome finding was that these negative shifts had occurred among political liberals and moderates, a constituency that had been seen as the most sympathetic to Muslims after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Conservatives have been the least likely group to support Muslims. Robert Jones, CEO of the Washington-based Public Religion Research Institute, noted last month that while overall favorable views about Muslims had dropped from 41 to 30 percent since 2005, most of that erosion of support was among conservatives.
Tags: 9/11, anti-muslim, Erik Nisbet, Muslim American, osama bin laden
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