Dearborn: Where the Mayor Wins Big and the Anti-Muslim March is the Punchline

So here we are again in Dearborn, Michigan — land of grape leaves, Yemeni coffee tempers, and the occasional existential identity crisis — and what does it look like? On one side, a triumphant figure of our community; on the other, a march of people who apparently clicked “Come” on Facebook and forgot to check the population statistics.

Meet the champion

Abdullah Hammoud — born and bred in Dearborn, first Arab-American, first Muslim mayor of the city, now reelected with something like 71 % of the vote. 

He didn’t win with fearmongering. He won with aunties handing out ballots like samosas, voters who know what time the traffic lights turn red, and a city that actually works when you stop pretending it doesn’t. Let’s give credit where credit is due.

Enter the protesters

And now, cue the “anti-Sharia”, “protect the Christians”, “American Crusade” marchers who’ve got one leg on Michigan Ave and the other in a logic loop. 

They’ve chosen Dearborn — a city where nearly half the town probably knows someone who says “inshallah” more than they say “good morning” — as the battleground for stopping Islamic law. It’s like showing up at a vegan potluck with a porterhouse and a “raw meat only” sign. Mis-placed? Absolutely. Hilarious? You bet.

The absurdity glaring at you

Let’s lay it out: Dearborn is majority Arab-American, significant Muslim population, Arabic coffee shops on every block (okay, a slight exaggeration but you get the point). 

And yet, we have outsiders (or residents detached from the local signal) who are marching in to “save” the city. From what? From themselves, probably.

Mayor Hammoud wins by a landslide. That means the majority of the city said, “Yes, you represent us.” Meanwhile, this protest says, “We represent you but not really you, and we’re here to warn you about you.”

It’s like the city threw a party, handed out cake, and a few folks stood outside holding signs: “Hey, watch out for that cake, it might be gluten-free tyranny.”

Here’s what this says about our culture

1. Identity wins. The community mobilized. They said: we are here, we are voting, we are seated at the table — and they filled the chairs.

2. Fear loses. The protesters tried the classic “threat-narrative” angle: “Sharia-law! Beware!” But the base responded with something stronger: “We live here. We compute the tax bills.”

3. Hypocrisy exposed. These marchers claim they care about “free speech” and “protection of Christians” — yet they pick the city where Christians, Muslims, Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemeni, and yes, founding white-Detroit families all the time share the same Tim Hortons line.

4. Power gratitude. Hammoud’s victory and the community’s response show that when you run on issues that matter — schools, roads, flooding (yes, flooding in Dearborn, who knew) — the noise of bigotry pales.

So what now?

If I were Mayor Hammoud right now, I’d take the megaphone (or at least the tweet-storm) and say: “Thanks for showing up. Sit down. We’ll send you an agenda.” Because the real job is redeveloping the west-side, fixing the aging infrastructure, giving the kids futures. Not policing people who think they’re in a different place.

If I were the protesters, I’d at least pick a better backdrop. Maybe march in the suburbs where you might find someone who doesn’t know what zatar tastes like yet. Marching in Dearborn is like picking a vegan barbecue joint to protest beef.

Final word

Dearborn continues to write its own story: not the one outsiders want you to believe. The script being handed to us by fear-mongers? That’s last season’s rerun. This season, we got a mayor who won by a landslide. We got a community that said: buy the ticket, ride the ride, and yes — we’re staying on this city-bus.

To the marchers: thanks for the entertainment. To Dearborn: let’s keep working — and let the satirists keep writing.

PSA: If you’re heading out and seeing signs, protesters, or just overhearing someone yelling at a street corner — stay safe, stay sharp, and remember: the real power in this city isn’t in the marchers with big signs. It’s in the voters, the workers, the aunties handing out ballots with a wink and a “Wallah, do your part.”

Truthfully and proudly,

Habib