Metro Detroit, MI

As the city of Detroit continues to lose population, two small cities that are attached geographically to the city continue to have dramatic growth of its Arab populations.  The Tomorrow’s America crew has explored the impact of this growth on Dearborn, on Detroit’s western border, and the home of the Ford Motor Company and on Hamtramck, a blue-collar city surrounded by Detroit that is known for its Polish roots.

Henry Ford welcomed Arab workers into his plants at the turn of the century, but Dearborn’s politicians over the years tried hard to keep the middle-class city as “white” as possible even after federal civil rights legislation was enacted.   Now, its schools are 70 percent Arab and across the street from City Hall is the national Arab-American Museum.

In Hamtramck, the Poles still occupy the positions of power in city government, but Arab cuisine is far more prevalent in the city’s restaurants than Polish cuisine and the call to prayer for Muslims is heard daily in the streets of the city.