At 250, America’s Muslims are proud of our country but in a debate with ourselves

Today, on America’s 250th birthday, the country is once again asking what kind of nation it wants to be. For Muslim Americans, the question is especially urgent. Are we a community apart, defined by grievance and foreign conflict? Or are we part of the American story, with a stake in its promise and a responsibility for its future?

A new national survey of Muslim American registered voters, conducted by the Muslim American Leadership Alliance in partnership with the Rainey Center, suggests the answer is more complicated — and more hopeful — than our politics usually allows.

The poll finds a community that is overwhelmingly patriotic. Ninety-five percent of respondents say they are proud to be American. Eighty-five percent believe in the American dream. Seventy-six percent say the U.S. is one of the greatest countries in the world. Sixty-seven percent say Muslims enjoy more freedom in America than anywhere else.

These numbers should matter. At a time when much of our public discourse treats Muslim Americans either as permanent victims or as a suspect population, the data tell a different story. Most Muslim Americans are not standing outside the American experiment........

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