I had always thought of Dearborn, Michigan, as the home of agricultural harvest machinery, owned and marketed by the Ford Motor Company. When Ford was still building farm and industrial tractors, including the Ford-Ferguson 9N and the iconic Ford 8N, Dearborn Machine was building the attachments that were mounted on these tractors.
But something happened in Dearborn, between the halcyon years of the 1940’s to the present day. Ford gave up their presence in the manufacture of agricultural and industrial machinery, and moved operations out of Dearborn, creating a circumstance similar to what happened in nearby Flint, Michigan.
Both these cities were a microcosm of what happened to Detroit itself in the intervening years. It is not clear what happened that caused Dearborn in particular to become a magnet for various Islamic immigrants, but the falling real estate values may have been a contributing factor. The settlement of the Islamic population has done little to improve real estate values, kind of a reverse gentrification has taken place, and now, real gentrification is virtually impossible.
“For once where a Muslim foot has trod, that is now forever Islamic territory.”
But why should they turn everywhere they go into a barren desert?
BRAVE AI:
Henry Ford did not personally import Arab immigrants, but he actively recruited them for his factories in Michigan, which triggered the community’s growth in Dearborn.
Recruitment for Labor:
Following his 1914 introduction of the $5 workday, Ford’s company recruited workers from the Middle East, particularly Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, to fill positions at his Highland Park and later Rouge Plant facilities in Dearborn.
Motivations:
Ford’s hiring practices were influenced by his anti-Semitism and desire for a workforce that was less likely to unionize; he reportedly viewed Arab workers as more compliant and less likely to complain than Jewish or other immigrant groups.
Community Formation:
The promise of stable, high-wage industrial jobs drew Arab immigrants to Detroit and Dearborn starting in the 1910s and 1920s, leading to the establishment of the largest Arab-American community in the United States.
And why isn’t somebody, for all out protection, working to get Dearborn & similar places back to normal. If we are to have a war, let’s start in some of the right places.