DEARBORN — Life in the past decade has been difficult for millions in America and internationally since September 11, 2001, but despite challenges faced through discrimination, guilt by association and constant verbal attacks from conservative politicians, the Arab American and American Muslim communities in Detroit are thriving and continue to draw hope from the promise of the American Dream. 

“Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade” editors Sally Howell, Nabeel Abraham and Andrew Shryock at HFCC. PHOTO: Nick Meyer/TAAN

The editors of the new book “Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade,” Nabeel Abraham, Sally Howell, and Andrew Shryock along with the Henry Ford Community College Arab Cultural Studies Program, held a panel discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 21 in front of a full lecture hall of students and faculty to discuss the current state of the Arab American and Muslim communities in the area as well as the findings of the book. Dr. Nabeel Abraham is a faculty member of the HFCC Anthropology Dept. and director of the HFCC Honors Program. Co-editor Sally Howell, an assistant professor of History and Arab American Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, has published essays in Diaspora, Visual Anthropology, and Anthropological Quarterly. 

As a member of the Detroit Arab American Study Team, she is also co-author of “Citizenship and Crisis: Arab Detroit after 9/11.” Co-editor Andrew J. Shryock is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. He is the author of “Nationalism and the Genealogical Imagination: Oral History and Textual Authority in Tribal Jordan” and editor of several volumes, including “Islamophobia/Islamophilia: Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend.”

“Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade,” serves to some extent as a sequel to Abraham’s and Shryock’s first book “Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream,” published in 2000 by Wayne State University Press.

Dr. Kim Schopmeyer, HFCC’s Associate Dean of Social Science, who contributed an essay to the book, noted that the Arab American community has grown tremendously in the past ten years in spite of the culture of suspicion in America that has enveloped it since late 2001.

“In the last decade we’ve seen a growth of about 200,000 to 220,000 people, so that’s about 25-30%,” he said. 

Many of the new immigrants are coming from war-torn Iraq, especially Shi’a Muslims and Christians, Schopmeyer said, adding to the diversity of the community in the Detroit area and mixing with others including large numbers of Lebanese Americans. 

Howell said the pattern of immigration was “remarkable,” especially considering that immigration was essentially stopped from Arab and Muslim countries for about a year and a half following 9/11. 

Abraham also said he thought that immigration would come to halt and stay that way in the years following 9/11 but noted that many communities have grown. 

“We’ve seen the building of many new mosques (for example)…the Muslim community is flourishing despite the challenges and problems,” he said. “We’ve also seen a conscientious effort to reach out and to teach and explain about Islam and their culture…as well as an effort from others to reach out and protect the community (from outside attacks).” 

Shryock said his observations and research have shown a similar trend in metro Detroit.  

“We’ve seen years of unexpected outcomes, there are more mosques, more Arab churches, more elected officials, more immigrants and larger and better funded institutions,” he said. 

While the challenge of gaining the trust of fellow Americans has been difficult, especially because of the ubiquitous myths that persist in the media surrounding their cultures, Shryock said that the communities have maintained an unwavering faith in the American Dream going forward as they continue to make metro Detroit their home.

“Arab Americans score higher on surveys when asked how proud to be American they are, and they have higher confidence in the country’s institutions even as the feds have been conducting surveillance on them,” he said.

“They (still) believe in liberty and justice for all in America and believe that these rights are the same for all.” 

The book was released this month through Wayne State University Press and features a variety of personal essays from Arab Americans of various backgrounds ranging from Yemeni to Lebanese to Palestinian and more. “The scope and incisive commentary of the essays collected in “Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade,” make the book an indispensible resource to anyone with an interest in the complexity and significance of ethnic pluralism in America,” explained Dr. Michael Daher, director of the HFCC Arab Cultural Studies Program. ‘The volume meticulously profiles the rich cultural and religious heritage that Arab Americans have brought to America, and rigorously profiles the alienation that this community has endured,’ he added.

It is currently available at www.wsupress.wayne.edu or at Amazon.com.