Read the Oct. 13, 2010, story by CBS News.

The Tennessean published a package of stories on Oct. 24, 2010, related to mistrust of Muslims in the state. Shariah law plays a part in that concern and is an issue in a lawsuit to block construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Read an Oct. 19, 2010, Council on Foreign Relations interview with John C. Green of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, who says that although voters are primarily concerned about jobs and the economy, they may also feel growing anxiety about Islam and the cultural and ethnic changes in the country.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR, continues to be the best-known and most aggressive organization for addressing grievances by Muslims, but it has become a target of government scrutiny because of allegations linking it to the Palestinian Hamas movement. The FBI curtailed contact with CAIR, as Fox News reported in this January 30, […]

Read the text of President Obama’s 2009 speech at Cairo University on the civil rights of Muslims.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also released a statement to coincide with Obama’s Cairo University speech, stating that the Justice Department is “committed to using criminal and civil rights laws to protect Muslim Americans.”

In April 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported that the FBI monitored gyms throughout Orange County to gather intelligence on local mosques.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations issues a yearly report on the status of Muslim civil rights. The last report was in 2010.

Therese Saliba teaches international feminism at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.