Henry Ford and the Genesis of Dearborn’s, Uh, “Problem”

phobia [foh-bee-uh] / ˈfoʊ bi ə /

noun

1. an intense, persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, situation or person that manifests in physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat or shortness of breath, and that motivates avoidance behavior.

2. an aversion toward, dislike of or disrespect for a thing, idea, person or group.

There are more than 500 named phobias, phobias from A (for example, ablutophobia [fear of bathing]) to Z (zoophobia [fear of animals]), and I do not think I have a single one. That includes Islamophobia (fear of Islam), although I cannot deny having an attitude and even a bias. This term has been the subject of debate among Western scholars, since it serves to preclude criticism of the vile sect of Mohammed—and there is plenty to criticize. In light of the fact that radical Islamists are having a dreadful effect on the lives of Christians and Jews (and even Buddhists and Hindus) in Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Nigeria, the United States, South Asia and elsewhere, I am none too fond of them. (Their numbers are growing here in Korea, too. Whenever I see one, I scowl and mutter, “Damn infidel.” And if it’s a woman with a rag tied around her head, I add, “That hyit ain’t gonna get you to heaven, sister. Take my word for it.”)

I will focus on a single American city, one with which I have some history. In short stretches of 1973, 1974 and 1978, I lived with my family in Livonia, a Detroit suburb. In the first two instances, I had a temporary job with the Ford Motor Company in nearby Dearborn. Several presumably Christian colleagues and friends resided there, and it was noted for two things: a long-time mayor—Orville L. Hubbard—whose municipal efficiency and segregationist policies were widely recognized and the massive River Rouge Complex, which has turned out Ford-brand cars, trucks, aircraft and ships for more than a century.

An industrial powerhouse, Dearborn is also ground zero for the Islamic presence in North America. Between 55 and 60% of its 110,000 residents are Muslim, there are no-go zones for non-Muslims and for police, the mayor (Abdullah Hammoud) is Muslim, a Congresswoman representing the state’s 12th district (Rashida Tlaib) is Muslim, White women bold enough to walk down the street without hijabs are routinely spat upon, Arabic signage is omnipresent, there are no fewer than 11 mosques, Sharia law is practiced—their denials notwithstanding—and the muezzin’s call to prayer is blasted from the mosques’ minarets five times every day. They do their Mecca-facing prayers not just in mosques but in parks, in streets, in parking lots and just about wherever they want. Who will stop them? You don’t want to be Islamophobic! While there are plenty of YouTube vids rhapsodizing about this multicultural city, I find it alarming.

Why so much allahu akbar stuff in one Detroit suburb? The answer can be traced to that Jew-hating Henry Ford. He was born on a farm in 1863 in Springwells Township, a community that has long since been absorbed by both Detroit and Dearborn. Although his education did not extend beyond eighth grade, he was a bright and ambitious young man. Starting as a tinkerer and apprentice machinist, by 1913 he had built the Ford Motor Company with its familiar Blue Oval logo into the biggest car maker in the world. He was an odd guy—in some ways an incredible visionary and yet he was already making bone-headed decisions that would later nearly ruin the company; his grandson Henry II came to the rescue in 1945.

It is unclear just why Ford turned into such an anti-Semite, but for him the feeling was deep and pervasive. Both world wars, he insisted, could be traced to maleficent Jews. He bought into every stereotype: They were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion, they bought low and sold high, they controlled the banks, they were loud and aggressive, they had hooked noses, they were unionists (Ford adamantly opposed the United Auto Workers but later changed his tune) and on and on. His widely distributed Dearborn Independent newspaper was chock-full of articles blaming every conceivable problem on the Jews. He republished The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious Russian forgery that alleged that a small cabal of Jews planned to take over the world. Adolf Hitler admired Ford and mentioned him in Mein Kampf.

By the mid-1920s, more than 155,000 people were working at FoMoCo. Few of them were Jewish. The boss was undoubtedly aware of Detroit’s Arab-American community which had begun in the 1880s with a small group of Syrian, Lebanese and Yemeni merchants who passed through Ellis Island and came to the rapidly industrializing West. He sent his recruiters to the Middle East, where the Ottoman Empire had just collapsed, for more. Lured by promises of $5-a-day jobs, they were brought to southeastern Michigan and placed on the assembly lines of various Ford plants—not just River Rouge in Dearborn but in Detroit, Hamtramck and elsewhere in Wayne County. Hard workers, less pliant than Jews and also less likely to complain, they surely made contributions that merit praise. Was there a connection between his anti-Semitism and that typically held by Arabs? This is a question that only old Hank himself could answer, and he’s been gone since April 7, 1947.

They had their struggles, of course, but they put down roots and eventually transformed Dearborn into a major Arab-American hub. The decades went by—including the 1970s and my two inconsequential office jobs there—and the city’s demographics continued to change with waves of immigration following the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, the Lebanese civil war (1975–1990), conflicts in Iraq and Syria in the 1990s and 2010s, and thousands of Afghans (not Arabs, I know, but Muslims) following the U.S. military withdrawal in 2021. The flow of refugees from that region has yet to abate. Is their heritage in Dearborn something to be preserved (the Arab-American National Museum at 13624 Michigan Avenue is the largest such museum in the world), cherished and celebrated? Perhaps, but along with many others I am none too pleased.

Where Henry Ford was born and raised…

Henry Ford…

The seal of Dearborn, Michigan depicts its favorite son…

The Dearborn Mosque, built in 1937…

The Islamic Center of America (at 120,000 square feet, the largest mosque in North America), built in 1924…

The Arab-American National Museum in Dearborn…

Mecca’s that way…

Female high school hoops in Detroit area…