DETROIT—Mayor Mike Duggan and the City Council
publicly pledged their support of the Campaign to Take On Hate on Feb. 24, in an announcement dubbed “historic” by the campaign’s organizers.

During
a City Council meeting, Council Member Raquel Castañeda-López introduced a
resolution to officially join the Campaign to Take On Hate. The campaign is led
by the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC). Detroit is now
the first “city to Take On Hate”
and the first to speak out against hate crimes against Arab and Muslim
Americans.

The campaign aims to combat stereotypes and hatred against Arab Americans by education and building coalitions. 

“We all want Detroit to be a city where everyone feels welcomed and is welcomed, no matter their race, faith, age, political views or sexual orientation,” Detroit Mayor Duggan said in a statement. “I am proud to stand in support of our friends in the Muslim and Arab community in the effort to end bias and discrimination.”   

Castañeda-López said elected officials have a responsibility to speak out against
discrimination, xenophobia and hatred.

“When the unacceptable becomes
the ‘norm’, people’s human rights are threatened,” she added. “In support of the campaign,
we call on all Detroiters to
speak out against hate to protect the rights of our Muslim and Arab
communities.”

Nadia
Tonova, the executive director of NNAAC welcomed the support of Duggan and the City Council to the Take On Hate campaign. “We are proud of
their commitment to stand with us against hate that is resulting in violence
and targeting of people because of their faith and ethnicity,” Tonova said. 

The
rise in hate crimes has been made clear by a recent string of attacks against
people based on their religion, or their perceived religion, in North America –
including the recent devastating murder of three young American Muslims in
Chapel Hill, N.C.; the arson attack of a mosque in Houston, Texas and the
murder of man of Somali descent who was shot through his apartment door in
Alberta, Canada.