Yemeni from Hamtramck? Iraqi from Dearborn? I don’t know but this was a family out on the riverwalk, on a 90 degree day, no less. Dad (in shorts) had taken their son to the bathroom, and mom was photographing her daughter while waiting. The picture’s blurry because we were eating a snack at a cafe and I was trying, as you can imagine, to be discreet. (The photobombing ice cream-eating girl is no relation.)
We also saw groups of Muslims at Somerset Mall, an upscale mall in the northern suburbs (it’s about the only thing within walking distance from my parents’ house that’s not just more houses or playgrounds). Some young women and teenage girls were simply full-covered, with headscarves; others had some sort of chador on top as well.
Is she wearing the veil (though not covering her face, at least) and chador voluntarily? Or because of pressure from her family and community? Or because she has been convinced that she’ll Go To Hell without it? What does it feel like to be sweltering and wrapped head-to-toe while capturing memories of your daughter’s sunny face?
As much as I want to be respectful of others’ beliefs, in the context of the recent discussion everywhere about refugee-migrants from Syria and the rest of the Middle East, this reinforces the question of whether and how successfully these cultures can integrate themselves into Western societies.
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