Arab Americans seek voice in politics at Dearborn conference
Thirty years ago, Dearborn city councilman Michael Guido mailed a 12-page campaign flier to every home in his city that was headlined: “Let’s talk about…the Arab problem.”
Running for mayor in 1985, Guido railed in the brochure against Arab-Americans, saying they weren’t assimilating and using tax payer money to teach Arab culture and get free food. It played a key role in boosting Guido from third in the polls to victory, getting him elected mayor that fall.
In response, Arab-Americans mobilized by reaching out to religious and political leaders, and launching a voter registration drive with the help of the Arab American Institute, founded that same year. Now, as the Institute kicks off Friday a 3-day national conference on politics, it finds itself facing alarming signs of the same problems it encountered in the 1980s.
Earlier this month in Michigan, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said bringing in thousands of Syrian Muslims to the U.S. “is nothing short of crazy.” And last last month, Detroit native Dr. Ben Carson said that an observant Muslim should not be president.
Closer to home, in Sterling Heights and Hamtramck this fall, there have been anti-Muslim fliers and rhetoric by some amid intense campaigns for elected office.
Source: www.freep.com