New study on American Muslims

Surprise, surprise...American Muslims are your average 'mainstream' Americans:

Muslim Americans are highly involved in the political process, relatively affluent and educated, and resemble the average American in terms of party affiliation, education and family income, according to research by Jen’nan Ghazal Read, associate professor of sociology at UC Irvine.

Read aims to shed light on a community that has been the subject of intense media scrutiny since 9/11, yet is still relatively unknown. In a recent survey, 66 percent of Americans said they know “very little or nothing” about Islam, and 34 percent said they have an “unfavorable opinion” of the religion.

“Muslim immigrants are not any different from earlier immigrant groups who came to America – they are motivated by the same desire to integrate and achieve a better way of life,” Ghazal Read said.

Continue press release here

I found this statistic the most interesting:

Muslim Americans are registered to vote at higher rates than the national average, a significant statistic considering that many are immigrants to the U.S.