American Islamophobic attitudes sharply worsened in the decade after 2001.

Evidence

Before 2001, survey data on American opinions regarding Islam revealed a fairly even split between positive and negative impressions of Islam, although the majority of Americans registered no opinion at all because of lack of any knowledge. But that balance has shifted over the past decade, as negative perceptions of Islam have become more widespread. Focusing more precisely on the association between Islam and violence, ten years ago, only 25% of Americans believed that Islam encourages violence, while 51 percent disagreed with that position; as of 2011, 40 percent say that Islam encourages violence, while 42 percent do not. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 26

Categorization

• XREF: Empirical grounding for identifying the post-2001 inflection point that several chapters treat as causal trigger of the frightened subject’s rise.