Common Prejudice Toward Jews and Muslims Lends Hope for Common Ground

James Ron, PhD, is an independent researcher and consultant who taught and conducted research for 21 years at Johns Hopkins University, McCill University, the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, and the University of Minnesota. Toward the end of 2018, Prof. James Ron and his colleague Howard Lavine conducted a poll that surveyed 3,000 American adults about their attitudes towards human and human rights.

The survey, which was funded by the University of Minnesota, Human Rights Watch, and the Center for Victims of Torture, and conducted with help from the survey research company YouGov, found that Americans are broadly supportive of human rights for people around the world.

Yet one sharp outlier emerged: Some Republicans, particularly strong supporters of President Donald Trump, tended to be more “nativist” in their attitudes, harboring a greater suspicion of “foreigners” — whose entry into the U.S., they believe, undermines the country’s “majority culture.”

On September 24, 2019, The New York Times published a piece by. Ron and Lavine which summarized their findings in the context of broader attitudes toward Jews and Muslims that are espoused by a core minority right-of-center respondents.

Contrary to the President’s frequent comments that his supporters are pro-Jewish, nativist beliefs were evident among a key base of his supporters. Consistently, these beliefs are marked by a lack of support for government protection of the rights of Jews and Muslims, both at home and abroad.

The authors did find a source of inspiration in these results: American Jews and Muslims face a common threat from the nativist wing of the conservative movement. This provides them with an opportunity to explore common ground in ways that may be beneficial to both communities.