Public Opinion - Middle Eastern Discrimination

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, in which Middle Eastern terrorists hijacked four planes—crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and one into a field in Pennsylvania—the number of accusations of discrimination against Muslims or people of Middle Eastern descent increased. Shortly after the attack, many Arab Americans believed they were being treated poorly by other Americans because they were of the same ethnic background and/or religion as the September 11 hijackers.

One of the most common charges made by Arab Americans immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks was that they were victims of racial profiling. Public Agenda, a nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization based in New York City, conducted a survey in January 2002 that looked at the problem of racial profiling in the African-American and Arab American communities. The poll found that more Americans were outraged by profiling against African-Americans than were upset by profiling of Arab Americans. According to the survey, a majority, 52 percent, said there was no excuse for racial profiling of African-Americans. Forty-one percent of respondents said that racial profiling of African-Americans was understandable but they wished it did not happen. Only 4 percent said there was nothing wrong with racial profiling of African-Americans.

When survey participants were asked about the racial profiling of Arab Americans, they were more accepting of the practice. Only 21 percent of respondents said there was no excuse for racial profiling of Arab Americans. Approximately 67 percent said racial profiling of Arab Americans was understandable though they wished it did not happen. Roughly 11 percent of respondents said there was nothing wrong with racial profiling of Arab Americans.

A Gallup poll conducted in June 2002 found that 60 percent of non-Hispanic whites believed that the civil rights of Muslims were respected by the criminal justice system, and 58 percent believed that the civil rights of Arabs were respected. Hispanics and African-Americans, on the other hand, offered a different perspective. Only 43 percent of Hispanics believed that the civil rights of Muslims were respected, with the number dropping to 42 percent when it pertained to Arabs. African-Americans were even more critical, with only 36 percent maintaining that the civil rights of Muslims and Arabs were respected by the criminal justice system in the United States. Also of significance, the poll found that even fewer African-Americans (33 percent) believed that their own civil rights were respected. (See Table 10.1.)

FIGURE 10.4
Public opinion on equal housing opportunity in local communities, 1989–2001
Question: Do blacks have the same chances as whites to get affordable housing in their own communities?

TABLE 10.1
Public opinion on the criminal justice system's respect for civil rights, June 2002
DO YOU THINK THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING GROUPS IN SOCIETY ARE BEING RESPECTED BY THIS COUNTRY'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, OR NOT? HOW ABOUT…

	Percent saying "yes, respected"–June 2002
	National adults	(NA) Men	(NA) Women	Non-Hispanic Whites	Blacks	Hispanic
whites	82%	82%	83%	84%	73%	81%
Asians	73	79	68	79	52	61
Hispanics	63	70	56	69	35	53
Immigrants	63	69	57	70	34	43
Blacks	62	69	56	69	33	48
Muslims	55	64	48	60	36	43
Arabs	53	62	46	58	36	42
SOURCE: Darren K. Carlson, "Do You Think the Civil Rights of Each of the Following Groups in Society Are Being Respected by This Country's Criminal Justice System, or Not? How About …," in "Civil Rights: A Profile in Profiling," July 2002, The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ, all rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. [Online] http://www.gallup.com/content/print.asp?ci=6361&pg=1 [accessed March 11, 2004]