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Muslims of the Mid-West

© Emily Garthwaite

The city of Dearborn in Michigan state is home to the largest Muslim population in the USA. It is also the largest Middle Eastern population outside of the Middle East. Dearborn is frequently targeted by the far-right who claim the city is the site of homegrown terrorism and under Sharia law.

In the West, particularly the USA, there is a one-dimensional view of Muslim communities. Dearborn is home to over eighty nationalities and each community expresses its faith uniquely. The town is thriving, even under the increasing weight of Islamaphobia. From Lebanese-Syrian immigrants arriving in the late 1800s to an influx of Middle Eastern immigrants through the Ford Motor Company in the 1950s, and in more recent years, refugees from Iraq, Syria, and Palestine, Dearborn remains an ever-changing community.



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