Monday ‘Take on Hate’ Discussion Challenges Bigotry Toward Arab-Americans

Arab-American leaders will gather in Detroit Monday for “Take on Hate,” a new national campaign challenging the cultural acceptance of discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans, including political refugees, launched by several key civil rights organizations.

The discussion, scheduled to coincide with the 51st anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic Walk to Freedom, will take place at 11 a.m. Monday, June 23, at Cadillac Place, 3044 West Grand Blvd., in Detroit.

The aim of the campaign is to achieve meaningful social change, not only through public education, media and coalition building, but also by providing a platform for Arab Americans and Muslims to advocate for policy changes that challenge institutional racism protect their rights.

Campaign organizers say that since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, discrimination toward Arab-Americans has increased dramatically and is considered by many to be an “acceptable” form of bigotry. The Take on Hate campaign aims to move the United States closer to becoming one that upholds dignity and equality for all, regardless of national origin, ethnicity, or religion.

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The campaign’s launch in the Detroit metro is sponsored by the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, the ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), the National Network for Arab American Communities,, ACLU of Michigan, the Council on  American-Islamic Relations of Michigan and the Arab-American Civil Rights League.

The Take on Hate campaign was launched nationally in Washington, DC, in March, and in San Francisco in April. Similar launches will take place in New York and Chicago later this summer.

Detroit was selected becauset the area is one of the largest populations of people who are of Arab descent. In Dearborn, about 40 percent of the population is of Arab descent, and many of them are Muslims.