‘Designated Survivor,’ Dearborn, Michigan: Tale of 2 Cities

DEARBORN, MI — What do you know about Dearborn, Michigan? Know this: It’s nothing like the way it’s portrayed in the new ABC show “Designated Survivor” (airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern Time). The premise of of the drama is that actor Kiefer Sutherland’s character, Tom Kirkman, aka the “designated survivor,” steps up as president after a terrorist attack wipes out the current president and 99 percent of the cabinet. As America plunges into chaos, Sutherland is leading a country brimming with fear and on the brink of exploding.

Taking a page from current climate of Islamophobia, the show’s writers build a script around a fictitious governor of Michigan — in real life, the No. 1 destination for refugees fleeing ISIS terror in Syria — who orders police to blindly pick up Muslims without cause, essentially policing at their discretion in the name of keeping the state safe. In one gut-wrenching scene, onlookers take cellphone videos of fictitious Dearborn police savagely beating a high school-age Muslim boy in the streets. He ends up dying from his injuries.

Sutherland’s Dearborn is nothing like real-life Dearborn.

The colorful metropolis is home to 40,000 Arab-Americans, the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the United States. There are a plethora of Arab-American-owned businesses and restaurants, cultural museums and other amenities that reflect Dearborn’s diversity. The birthplace of Henry Ford and home to Ford Motor Co.’s world headquarters, Dearborn is also as all-American as cities come.

So, what do the real people of Dearborn think about their city being depicted as a lawless, hate-mongering mecca?

“It’s always disappointing when we see a distorted image of our wonderful community in the news media, in social media, or in fictional TV shows,” Dearborn communications director Mary Laundroche said in an emailed statement to Patch. “Even when programs are not real, the impression they leave could seem real to viewers not familiar with our town. The truth is that Dearborn is a welcoming and united community, with many positive stories about our city and our residents that are so much more compelling to tell.”

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr. declined to be interviewed for this story.

Nadia Tonova, director of the National Network for Arab American Communities, told Patch the show presents some civil rights issues members have raised, albeit in the extreme.

“From what I’ve heard, 'Designated Survivor' is talking about civil rights issues that we have to uphold for all people,” Tonova said. “I have also heard that it might not be portraying accurately relationships between the Arab and Muslim community and city officials.”

But despite the horrific treatment of Muslims on “Designated Survivor,” there hasn’t been a wild outcry from Dearborn’s large Arab-American community. Tonova suggests that’s because real-life Dearborn residents are dealing with real-life tensions.

“Our community is dealing with so many real issues on the ground right now, and that’s what we’re focused on more than this show. It’s been a difficult year, and there have been increased hate crimes on our community,” she said.

So what should TV viewers across America know about Dearborn and the city’s Arab-American community? Tonova told Patch:

“I want people to know Dearborn is a vibrant community. There are a lot of great things happening here and so people should be encouraged by that and if they haven’t been they should come. That’s the message.

“I want people to know that our community is like any other community in the U.S. With the upcoming election, when you ask Arab Americans about the issues — jobs and economy are the top things. Our community is concerned with the things everyone else is concerned about — good lives for us and our children.”

Tonova addressed several other issues important to the Arab-American community in southeast Michigan in a conversation with Patch:

Patch: What issues are you focused on now?

NT: We’re reminding people to register and vote all the way down the ballot on Nov. 8, and we’re doing the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE. We’re always focused on any type of discrimination against Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans. Not necessarily just here in Michigan, but hate crimes against Muslims in general. A hate crime against a Muslim happens every 13 hours in the U.S. That’s from a Georgetown initiative. We’re very concerned about that. We’re looking at that, federal policies and making sure we’re also doing the work around the election.

Patch: Can you talk more about the campaign to TAKE ON HATE?

NT: TAKE ON HATE is a national campaign. We’re focused on empowering Arab- Americans to tell their own stories and speak out and know how to handle these situations if they experience hate, or if they ever encounter them. In Michigan we’re focusing on building bridges of community. In Dearborn, we held one workshop a month over six months on race or identity, and it was an opportunity for people to talk about these issues and learn about them in an approachable and active way. It’s an opportunity to build relationships. When we have stronger communities on the ground, when people are empowered that will turn the tide and make sure people are safe in their communities.

Patch: How can people get involved to help your campaign?

NT: We would love volunteers. Go on TAKEONHATE.org or donate. The campaign is a national grassroots campaign that’s challenging prejudices and bias in Arab and Muslim communities – in additional to all hate – and creating a community.

Photo by Andrew E. Larsen via Flickr Commons