Last week’s municipal election in Dearborn was historic by more than one measure. Having an Arab American as Council President for the first time is by itself a milestone in Dearborn’s history. And having a woman president is also remarkable. It was, however, disappointing to see only one woman elected out of seven council members despite the presence of several qualified women among the fourteen finalists, including three endorsed by the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC).
Dearborn is rich with skilled entrepreneurial women who are making a difference in many areas, including the political and civic arenas. This city will be better served by tapping into this diverse talent pool and electing to the council more qualified female representatives next time.
As expected, the election of Susan Dabaja as Dearborn Council President generated much commentary and discussion, especially within the Arab and Muslim communities. Most of it was congratulatory in nature. Many congratulated the candidate, and some congratulated themselves and the Arab community. The speculation and analysis continue as to who deserves the credit for this impressive win by a first-time candidate. Needless to say, every person and organization involved in managing or supporting Dabaja’s campaign deserve credit and thanks. However, we should not forget that the most important people to thank are the Dearborn voters from the entire town and from all ethnicities. They voted based on the candidate’s qualifications leaving aside hang-ups about the candidate’s religion or national origin.
This transformation did not happen overnight. It is the product of many years of hard work, outreach, and bridge-building among different constituents in the city. The results of these efforts started to show gradually within the last decade and reached the first turning point with the election of Hussein Berry to the Dearborn Board of Education in 2009. While not being the first Arab American to be elected to a city office, Hussein was the first candidate with an obvious Arabic and Muslim name to win a contested race. This trend continued with the resounding victory of Sam Salamey last year when he defeated incumbent judge Richard Wygonick. This progress was the result of the tireless efforts of hundreds of volunteers who worked for many years registering voters, helping candidates, spreading the word, being active on all ends of town, and showing overall that Arab Americans are good Dearbornites, who want to serve, who want the best for their city, and who can be trusted to hold public office. Much like companies who embrace diversity in order to attract a broader talent pool, Dearborn voters are providing an opportunity to more qualified citizens to serve.
But now, after the celebration, we have to ensure that we continue to move in the right direction. No one should repeat what happened at the polls and in the days leading up to this last Election Day with the calls to “vote Arab only.” These efforts promoted by young volunteers working for one of the Arab candidates and the Arab Student Union were misguided. They went against years of hard work to eliminate ethnicity as a factor against Arab American candidates. When we founded AAPAC in 1998, one of our stated goals was to serve this community and help elect qualified Arab American candidates. But it was also one of our goals to elect qualified candidates regardless of ethnicity, to better serve our community and the cities where we live. In fact, there are many non-Arab candidates whom we supported over the years, and who proved to be great public servants for the entire community, Arab and non-Arab. We should not box ourselves into an ethnic enclave, this will be a disservice.
Now is not the time to reintroduce ethnicity as a factor to help elect candidates of Arab descent. It is wrong to teach our youth to support candidates for any reason other than their qualifications to serve. We cannot and should not turn the clock back in Dearborn. It took years to get here, let’s continue moving forward and build a world class city and a model for diversity and harmony.
-Abed Hammoud, former AAPAC President.
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