DEARBORN — The city officially joined the Campaign to Take On Hate at the March 31 council meeting, following the paths of Detroit and Taylor.

Council President Susan Dabaja introduced the Take On Hate resolution at the start of the meeting.

Take On Hate, a metro-Detroit based movement that has gained major momentum across the nation, aims to combat stereotypes and hatred against Arab Americans through education and coalition building. It is powered by the National Network for Arab American Communities, a project of ACCESS.

Dabaja stressed the importance of the city being an avid supporter of the campaign, as it is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country.

“Dearborn is known for its diversity and its dynamic history as a home to many immigrant communities,” she said. “The city of Dearborn supports and protects its citizens regardless of their religion and ethnicity; and as public servants we have a responsibility to speak up against discrimination, hatred and violence that is based on ethnicity and religion.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D- Dearborn) attended the meeting and publicly expressed her support for the campaign and applauded the city for standing behind it. Dingell told the Council that she condemned the recent killings of three innocent Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and urged legislators stand behind the Arab American and Muslim American communities. 

She also applauded the FBI’s Detroit office for publicly announcing that it would begin tracking hate crimes in the Arab and Muslim communities.

“What we’ve seen in the last few years is very disturbing,” Dingell said. “This community needs to take on the issues of misconceptions about what the Muslim community is and what they stand for. We all share the same values. We need to be remind people what is happening because we can never tolerate hatred or bigotry in any community.”  

Former State Representative Rashida Tlaib, who also attended the meeting, has been managing the campaign since it was formed last year. She has appeared at city council meetings, press conferences and other public gatherings to spread awareness of the campaign and denounce violence targeting minority groups.

Tlaib, the first Muslim American woman to be elected into Michigan Legislature, shared her concerns about the political environment to which her children have been subjected. She compared the Arab American civil rights struggles to that of the African American community, referencing a recent incident on a Delta airplane in which a Muslim woman and her children were told to move to the back of the plane after a fellow passenger heckled the family. 

“A lot of what is being said in the media, at schools and among people in power is something that is really creating a struggle that jeopardizes our core American values,” Tlaib said. “The values that say no matter your faith, identity or ethnicity, you should not be solely targeted because of that. It is just un-American to do that. It jeopardizes exactly who we all really are and what we are so proud of in our country.”

The Campaign to Take On Hate has gained momentum in other regions across the country, getting recognition from leaders in San Francisco, Chicago and New York City.

To learn more about the movement, visit www.takeonhate.org.