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Washington Times – July 22, 2004 City grapples with anti-Arabic mood Dearborn Heights, MI. -- The suburban Detroit city of Dearborn Heights is struggling to suppress anti-Arabic sentiment in a community split geographically. The city's dividing line is an east-west route called Ford Road, south of which a steadily growing number of Arabic families live, the Detroit News said Thursday. In the suburb, the Arabic population has increased 400 percent since 1990, sparking some social discord. Controversies in a local school district over a Muslim holiday and the serving of halal, or Islamic-blessed food, to students helped drive a huge voter turnout for the school board race in June. Students of Arab descent make up 35 percent to 40 percent of the 3,300-student district and many stay home to observe the Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Nearby Dearborn has closed schools on Eid al-Fitr for several years, but some parents and officials in Dearborn Heights openly vow their city would not become "like Dearborn.""Over there, north of Ford Road -- where there's just a few (Arab Americans) -- they all look at us like we're strange people coming in, trying to take over," one Arabic resident told the newspaper. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040722-014826-8551r.htm |