Arab Detroit Community Complex, Panel Says
The conundrum of Arab and Muslim populations in the Detroit area is the great growth and the immense pressure they have seen since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, according to a recent panel discussion.
The event at Henry Ford Community College on Wednesday included three editors and one contributing writer for the book “Arab Detroit 2011: Life in the Terror Decade.” The Detroit area has been a magnet to those of Arab or Muslim ancestry for more than a century, said Kim Schopmeyer, HFCC associate dean of social science and a contributor to the book.
The metro area does not have the largest population of Arab Americans — those are in New York and California — but it does have the highest percentage. In Dearborn, Arab Americans accounts for about one-third of the population, Schopmeyer said.
Across the region there are about 200,000 to 220,000 Arab or Muslim Americans, he said. That group has grown by 25 percent to 30 percent over the last decade.
Growth of community continues
Nabeel Abraham, an editor of the book and HFCC anthropology professor, said the growth surprised him. He thought people would leave or stop coming during the War on Terror.
“This community grew, and it grew in surprisingly unique and unexpected ways,” he said.
New mosques were built. Social service agencies expanded. Interfaith outreaches were held, and people moved in.
The community grew despite hostilities and increased scrutiny from authorities and critics, speakers said.
“It’s like the clouds from New York drifted over the country and cast a pall over other areas, including here,” Abraham said.
Proud to be Americans
Co-editor Andrew Shryock also talked about the contradictions that have come since 9/11 with the government both courting and menacing Arab and Muslim Americans, spying on mosques while trying to recruit Arab speakers to serve.
Look no further than the Arab Festival in Dearborn, of which the CIA was listed as a major sponsor, he said.
“There’s an Army rock climbing wall behind the falafel stand,” he said, drawing chuckles from the crowd of about 120 people.
Even before the attacks, Arab Detroit had a number of factors in place, including its size, which allowed it to grow stronger in the face of adversity.
“Bigness matters,” Shryock said. The number of people gave political and economic clout to the group and allowed it to organize.
“These are the engines of incorporation in American society — politics and economics,” Shryock said.
The community is also old and diverse, mingling people from different countries and religions. It includes those too new to speak English and those so American they cannot even curse in Arabic, he said.
The local Arab community is also “highly institutionalized.” “It’s a community with lots of acronyms. Most of them have A or I in them for Arab or Islam,” he said, referring to ACCESS and a long list of other familiar local organizations.
The local Arab community also has Americanism, meaning they’ve grown to expect civil liberties, equality and other American ideas, even if they are not fully Americanized in their culture.
Shryock referred to a survey asking Arab and Muslim Americans how proud they were to be American.
“They are actually prouder to be American than the mainstream respondents,” he said.
Those and other factors helped drive the success of the Arab community over the last decade.
“All of these things make Arab Detroit a target and a target of opportunity,” Shryock said.
9/11 backlash takes several forms
Sally Howell, also a book editor and a professor of history and Arab American studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, discussed the backlash Arab Americans and American Muslims faced after 9/11.
She divided hostility into three categories — man on the street, media and legal.
“The man on the street backlash was much less severe in Detroit because we are used to Muslims and Arabs in our community,” she said.
The media backlash continues with pundits still talking about banning Sharia law and blocking immigration from Muslim countries.
The legal backlash with restricted civil liberties and agent provocateurs infiltrating mosques is also ongoing, she said.
She also noted the interest in Arab studies has skyrocketed over the last decade. Enrollment in programs across the nation has climbed, and numerous books have come out related to Arab Americans, she said.
Schopmeyer noted the mix of people in Arab Detroit has also changed over the last decade.
Initially, immigration from the Middle East included mostly Christians, who tended to settle more north in Macomb and Oakland Counties.
However, wars of the last two decades have brought in more Muslims, Iraqi and Yemenis to Detroit, Dearborn and areas further west.
“Now we are looking at more of a 50/50 split between Christians and Muslims,” he said.
Katie Hetrick
Press & Guide