A brief history of Dearborn, Michigan – the first Arab-American majority city in the US
Retrieved on:
Monday, February 12, 2024
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Dearborn, Michigan, is a center of Arab American cultural, economic, and political life.
Key Points:
- Dearborn, Michigan, is a center of Arab American cultural, economic, and political life.
- It’s home to several of the country’s oldest and most influential mosques, the Arab American National Museum, dozens of now-iconic Arab bakeries and restaurants, and a vibrant and essential mix of Arab American service and cultural organizations.
- The city became the first Arab-majority city in the U.S. in 2023, with roughly 55% of the city’s 110,000 residents claiming Middle Eastern or North African ancestry on the 2023 census.
Ford and Dearborn are in many ways synonymous
- Dearborn owes much of its growth to automotive pioneer Henry Ford, who began building his famous River Rouge Complex in 1917.
- While most early 20th-century Arab immigrants to the United States were Christians, those who moved to Dearborn in the 1920s were mainly Muslims from southern Lebanon.
- Fleeing civil war in Yemen and the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, these new Arab immigrants breathed new life into Dearborn.
- By the 1980s, this mix of first- and second-generation Arab Americans had begun to spill into other neighborhoods in East Dearborn.
Overcoming discrimination
- Arab American activists responded by pushing for more city services in East Dearborn and running for office.
- Republican Suzanne Sareini was the first Arab American elected to the City Council in 1990.
- It took another 20 years, when Arabs became the plurality of the population, before other Arab Americans joined Sareini on the council.
- Following the al-Qaeda attacks of 9/11, Dearborn became a target for anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia, government surveillance, and harassment.
New leadership
- Hammoud objected publicly to the congressional censure of Tlaib in 2023 following her remarks about the violence in the Gaza Strip.
- He also called for an unequivocal cease-fire in Gaza at a time when other Democratic leaders were silent.
- Dearborn often becomes a topic of global media interest during election years or at times of conflict in the Middle East.
Nothing to disclose. Amny Shuraydi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.