Access denied: exploring Muslim American representation and exclusion by state legislators

Post 9/11, evidence that Muslim Americans are experiencing discrimination is pervasive. This paper tests what has previously been only anecdotal evidence that discrimination extends to Muslims' treatment by legislators. I conduct two audit experiments on state legislators to test for discrimination. I first compare how state legislators in all fifty states assist low versus high socioeconomic Muslim American individuals applying for an internship and compare their treatment to that of whites. Not only does socioeconomic status not matter for Muslims - whites receive more responses regardless of SES - but party affiliation does not affect response rates either. I then run a similar experiment testing responses to religious leaders requesting a legislative visit. Imams are significantly less likely than their Pastor counterparts to receive a response. Across both studies, the results are consistent: the American Muslim community and its members experience widespread discrimination at the hands of elected representatives.