Armed anti-Muslim protesters at Dearborn’s Centennial Library

I pass three stoplights on my way to work. The streets have crosswalks and people drive on the roads.

There’s a McDonald’s, Burger King and a BP gas station in my city.

You can buy groceries, get your car fixed or watch a movie at the theater. There’s a bowling alley near my house and a Walgreens down the street with convenient parking. 

There is a university, a college and a hospital.

It seems like a regular U.S. city. But it’s the Islamic capital of the country, they say — or rather yell — loudly and fervently.

I don’t know what it takes to earn that title. However, I do know the 24 square miles that many label as a breeding ground for terrorism and an example of an oppressive municipality governed by Sharia law does not match those charming descriptions.

If I lived in the city that many perceive Dearborn to be, wearing a hijab would be mandatory. I would also be forced to pray five times a day and frequently incorporate angry cries of “Allahu akhbar” into conversations. Based on the tales people tell, living in this city would mean that I hang out with people who build bombs, carry out hijackings and partake in other reprehensible activities in cahoots with jihadists in a desert somewhere overseas.

In the Dearborn presented on radical right-wing blogs and idiotic special reports from Fox News, I would pass by stonings instead of stoplights on my way to work. I’d hear about the latest honor killing while waiting in line at a coffee shop.

But I don’t because that place does not exist here.

I’m not an Arab or a Muslim. And as a Dearbornite, I’m able to say and think what I want. I haven’t recited the Shahada or set foot in a mosque since I’ve lived here. The Little Caesars down the street offers pizza with halal pepperoni, but I’m still able to eat the unholy meat.

According to the American Immigration Council, Dearborn had the largest proportion of Arab Americans in the United States, which made up 47 percent of the city’s population in 2013. Though the lack of a distinct category for Arab Americans on the U.S. Census prevents an accurate count, that number explains the Arabic writing and specialized stores and foods. It’s an ethnic enclave like any other across the country.

The concentration is real, but the stigmas are silly. The fears are unfounded.

Don’t tell me that Islam dictates that devout Muslims kill all Christians they encounter and all non-believers that exist. Don’t tell me that you understand the teachings and intricacies of the religion if you haven’t even taken the time to do a simple Google search about it. Don’t tell me what Sharia law is if you can’t even pronounce the word. And please don’t tell me that Dearborn is governed by it.

A group of people protested in Dearborn recently, parading with guns, misconstrued ideas and signs that read, “Stop the Islamization of America.” Explaining their cause, one protester said Islam is ruining American values and taking over “their country.”

Maybe I should grab a rifle and organize a protest because I feel the same about them — though I would never. Those are the people who are threatening the principles our country was founded on. Those are the people who are degenerating our society by denigrating people who have equal rights to free speech, the pursuit of happiness, and on a moral level, a right to respect.

I live in Dearborn, but I’m not an extremist, nor am I considering moving to Syria and marrying an ISIS militant. And neither is anyone I know. I have been welcomed into this city they say is filled with radical terrorists and governed by Islamic law because none of that is true. I live in a city where I’m protected by and operating under the U.S. Constitution — just like everyone else here.