Fordson<\/a>.\u201d His is a film not merely about a small Detroit suburb; it is about Dearborn. It is about Fordson High School, where some sixty percent of the students are Arab and\/or Muslim. While the insane backlash by Americans against Americans has sometimes targeted Sikhs and Hindus along with the Muslims, no group has been as vilified and attacked as much as the Arabs of America. As Osama Siblani of the Arab American News comments in the film, \u201cWe were hit twice on September 11. Once by Osama bin Laden. And second by those who associated us with Osama bin Laden.\u201d This vilification transcends 9\/11 to include the Palestinian-Israeli situation, as well as further conversations about oil. And, no population of Arabs in America has been subjected to that hate as much as the people of Dearborn, Michigan.<\/p>\nSan Francisco is known for its Chinatown. New York is known for its Little Italy. Detroit has its Dearborn. These ethnic conclaves begin when a few families land in America seeking freedom and prosperity, and are followed by extended families, who are followed by friends, who are then followed by former neighbors. Demographics transform; the newer generations become indigenous hybrids merging old with new, foreign with domestic.<\/p>\n
The result is a place like Devon Avenue in Chicago. When my family first moved to the United States, we would drive to Devon to purchase Halal meat. A small Indian grocery shop and an Indian sari \u201cpalace\u201d were nearby among miscellaneous Ukranian vendors. These shops were joined by small South Asian electronics stores and restaurants. Now, years later, Indian and Pakistani shops flavor miles of this street, selling anything that would be found in a shop in the subcontinent. Similarly, when I first visited Dearborn, I expected Arab restaurants, physicians, attorneys and brokers. I knew I was in a new world, however, when I noticed that the name of the fireworks store was in Arabic.<\/p>\n
The Dearborn story might trace itself to Henry Ford. Long before the Civil Rights movement, the Ford Motor Company was one of the first major corporations to hire minorities: African Americans, Jews, and Lebanese. Henry Ford soon established a high school in honor of his son, naming it Fordson (i.e. Ford\u2019s son). Now, nearly a century later, the majority of Fordson students, faculty, and staff are Arabs of all ethnicities (Palestinian, Iraqi, Syrian, Jordanian, Egyptian, etc.).<\/p>\n
Interestingly, I do not recall any of the characters in the movie identifying themselves according to their specific ethnic heritages. Further, there are no conversations in this movie about Palestine\/Israel, no conversations about oil, though there are plenty of conversations about 9\/11. Rather, these are high schoolers and families, looking forward to the big football game on Friday night against the rich kids on the other side of town.<\/p>\n
Adding complication to the story is Ramadan, the Muslim Boot Camp. It is a time of intense personal self-discipline and contemplation, supported by community participation and service. Here, our Muslims players are fasting all day. They wake up, go to school, and race to practice. They come home, break their fast with family, and sleep at night, dreaming about food. In the following year, the school gained national attention for shifting to night time practices (after the students had completed their daily fasting), but in this year, all the practices were conducted in the heat of the afternoon, at full speed with full football gear.<\/p>\n
When I screened an earlier, festival print of this film, the narrative was uneven and tedious, but was still strong enough to earn awards. This theatrical cut is streamlined and sharper. In the previous print, the big game seemed tired. Now, the ending seems intentionally, pleasantly anti-climatic. The film places focus on a few of the athletes preparing for the game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.<\/p>\n
It alternates between sequences about the history of Dearborn, experiences in the high school, personal moments and reflections, and 9\/11 backlash. It seems that the fallen towers of 9\/11 cast their shadows over this town, sometimes painfully. Nevertheless, the basic goal of these quiet people is to live life day to day, enjoying the simple, pleasant joys that life brings, while getting past the difficulties of a difficult time. After graduation, many of the high schoolers will remain in Dearborn, with no interest in leaving. Some have dreams of the world beyond. Just like any other group of high schoolers.<\/p>\n
This growing genre of 9\/11 films seems to have at least three main branches. There are those films that chronicle the events of that day, including \u201cWorld Trade Center\u201d and \u201cUnited 93.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second, there are those films that speak of the politics of 9\/11. Some films critique our national responses, including \u201cFahrenheit 9\/11,\u201d \u201cNo End in Sight,\u201d and \u201cRoad to Guantanamo.\u201d Some speak of other events, providing thinly veiled references to 9\/11 almost as part of a greater chain of events, including \u201cMunich\u201d and \u201cCharlie Wilson\u2019s War.\u201d Some films tell of the complications of the world, including \u201cTraitor,\u201d \u201cSyriana,\u201d and \u201cThe Kingdom.\u201d Some internet films that claim conspiracy, including \u201cIn Plane Site\u201d and \u201cZeitgeist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third, there are those personal films. There are those films that explore our wounds, including \u201cThe 25th Hour,\u201d \u201cMan Push Cart,\u201d and \u201cBrothers.\u201d And, there are those films that seek healing, including \u201cMooz-lum\u201d, \u201cReign on Me,\u201d \u201cMy Name is Khan,\u201d and now \u201cFordson.\u201d When my brother-in-law watched \u201cFordson,\u201d he felt chills. A high school football player himself, now a physician who also supports local high school football, he was personally touched watching the players perform their pregame prayers, by reciting the Qur\u2019an. I expect many others will feel the same.<\/p>\n
Omer M. Mozaffar teaches in the Asian Classics Curriculum at the University of Chicago\u2019s Graham School of General Studies. The film \u201cFordson: Faith, Fasting, Football,\u201d opened in select cities on September 9, 2011.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The film “Fordson” places focus on a few high school athletes preparing for a football game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\n
Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The film "Fordson" places focus on a few high school athletes preparing for a football game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The film "Fordson" places focus on a few high school athletes preparing for a football game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-14T10:56:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/fordson-movie.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/\",\"name\":\"Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-14T10:56:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-09-14T10:56:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"The film \\\"Fordson\\\" places focus on a few high school athletes preparing for a football game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots","description":"The film \"Fordson\" places focus on a few high school athletes preparing for a football game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots","og_description":"The film \"Fordson\" places focus on a few high school athletes preparing for a football game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2011-09-14T10:56:31+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/fordson-movie.jpg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/","name":"Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-09-14T10:56:31+00:00","dateModified":"2011-09-14T10:56:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"The film \"Fordson\" places focus on a few high school athletes preparing for a football game, but the real narrative paints layers in the evolution and lives of this population as Americans, as Arabs, as Muslims, as people.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2011\/09\/new_english-speaking_patriots\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/fordson-movie.jpg\")
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n