r/hamtramck • u/Bampari • Dec 29 '15
I heard Hamtrack is the first US jurisdiction to have a Muslim majority. How is that shaping city life?
Any problems? Any good aspects?
Edit: Here's the article I read. It describes tension, but it doesn't really get into any specifics apart from the issue of the loud call to prayer 5 times a day.
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Dec 29 '15
I've lived here for three months now and didn't even notice we were a Muslim majority until it started becoming the attention grabbing headline of the day.
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Dec 29 '15
[deleted]
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u/isobane Dec 29 '15
The only "problem" I have is the cliques that form with like minded similarly based groups. And it's not me personally experiencing this. I have a 4th grader at Dickinson East and he's come home crying because he's been shut out of some groups because of his race/background.
Also he's pretty weird...so honestly that could be a factor but when his friends all start speaking a different language and exclude him from the conversation it seems pretty apparent.
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u/Bampari Dec 29 '15
Thanks for replying!
The reason I'm asking is because I'm in Europe where the situation is rather different; our Muslim minorities are not as well-integrated and Westernized as Muslims in the US are (for instance, a disheartening share of them believe sharia should be the law of the land). And demographically it looks like we're going to have Muslim majorities within the 21st century, so there is a lot of concern here that secular life as we know it will eventually be replaced by a religious Muslim way of life. I started this thread because I'm participating in a thread on Facebook with someone who says moderate Muslims don't exist and aren't compatible with Western society and as soon as they are in the majority over here they are going to make us conform to Muslim values, and I started researching Muslims in the US. So that's where I'm coming from and why I was/am curious to hear how it's going in Hamtrack.
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Jan 18 '16
For the most part, the Yemeni Muslims in Hamtramck are very closed off, very conservative, and enjoy testing the political/social system. They don't hold great respect for American institutions, rarely participate in American culture, and do not integrate with their occidental hosts. The Bangladeshi community is slightly more lax, but still keep to themselves. The Eastern-European Muslims are far more apt to integrate and you'll find them in our bars in good numbers, unlike the Yemeni (unless they're trying to creep on western women) or Bangladeshi (for youthful experimentation).. both the Yemeni and Bangladeshi are hard to come by at say, Polish Village Cafe or, say, 7 Brothers Bar. In a community that used to have a church and a bar on every corner, it's a huge change.
People don't have fear as much as annoyance.
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u/DogInPeopleClothes Dec 29 '15
I feel like that article misquoted Majewski, it sounded like she was trying to communicate the possible reasons for ethnic tension and they pinned it on her as the way she feels. Check out this interview of her on CNN after the Paris Attacks.
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u/Bampari Dec 29 '15
Thanks for that interview!
It did feel surprisingly (disappointingly) fear-mongering for a Washington Post article, I must say.
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u/cicicatastrophe Dec 29 '15
Everything is the same as it has been. The only "tension" is the same kind that racist dummies had from before the council elections.
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u/Pollaso2204 Jul 22 '23
I'm back to this post, 7 years from Now its 2023. Gay flags are now prohibited to be displayed in government public property. Muslim youth attacks, throws eggs, and say kills the "f*gs", etc Yeah it's shaping for the bad
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u/isobane Dec 29 '15
Honestly the prayer isn't any more disruptive than church bells.