By Elizabeth Trovall
HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA - Muslims are more likely than any other faith group to say they have been harassed by police based on their religion, according to a new Rice University study, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Researchers also found Muslims of color face worse treatment by police. Muslims who are Black or of Middle Eastern or Northern African descent reported religion-based police harassment far more frequently than white Muslims.
Previous studies have shown that Black communities experience disproportionate policing compared with other communities.
These new findings show how being Muslim may bring additional scrutiny by law enforcement within communities of color. Thirty-nine percent of Middle Eastern or Northern African Muslim adults and 23 percent of Black Muslim adults reported religion-based police harassment whereas just.
1 percent of Muslim adults who identify as white said they’d been harassed, according to the survey of more than 4,000 U.S. adults, including Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists and followers of other religions.
“We see profound overlaps between religion and racial identities and we know that from these findings, that this relationship can can also shape the relationship that these individuals have with institutions like law enforcement,” said the report’s author, Jauhara Ferguson, a graduate student studying sociology at Rice.
Her research also found that Black and Middle Eastern or Northern African respondents of all religious backgrounds were more likely to report police harassment based on religion, regardless of their beliefs.