Apparently, America has another hyphenated ethnic sub group

Editor's note:  According to the Islamic Abdul El Sayed, Michigan is now "Arab America." Apparently, Americans now have an "Arab-America" along with African-America, Jewish-America, Mexican-America and European-America. The Islamic Sayed is treating ethnicity as a competing loyalty rather than a personal background within the shared American national framework and should be rejected. This should not be tolerated in America and it is apparent the people of Michigan who voted for Islam have no idea what they are dealing with. Sayed's language does two things: it flatters a specific identity group and it signals to everyone else that American identity is secondary or negotiable. Repeated emphasis on hyphenated or parallel "Americas" (whether Arab, African, Israeli, Latino, or otherwise) weakens the expectation of a common civic culture. It turns demographic concentration into a claim of special political status. That's not neutral description; it's a political assertion. El-Sayed's remark was deliberate. He was speaking to an Arab-American audience right after winning a Senate seat and chose to elevate ethnic identity over the simple fact that he will represent the entire state of Michigan. Whether that reflects genuine pride or political calculation, the effect is the same: it prioritizes group particularism over national unity. Many Americans find that approach corrosive, antagonistic and deliberate (soft sympathy, ideological affinity for Muslim Brotherhood without direct support or membership) precisely because it keeps score by ancestry instead of by citizenship and shared rules.

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EXPLAINED | Habibi, America & 'Arab America'

By Sunny K S | November 8, 2026

Abdul El-Sayed called JD Vance "habibi" after winning Michigan's Senate race. Two days later, he called Michigan the "capital of Arab America". How did Detroit's auto country become a centre of Arab American life, and what does his win tell us about its place in America today?

"JD, habibi." That was how Abdul El-Sayed addressed the US vice president from a stage in Detroit early on November 4. The Michigan Democrat, who had just beaten Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, used the Arabic term of affection to tease JD Vance about swearing him in come January. Two days later, speaking at an Arab American summit in Chantilly, Virginia, El-Sayed made a bigger claim for his home state. "Michigan is the capital of Arab America."

To see what he meant, look at Dearborn. A century ago, auto jobs drew Arab immigrants to the Detroit area. In this year's Senate race, Dearborn gave El-Sayed 82.2 per cent of its vote in the city's unofficial tally. The story between those two points runs through factory gates, family networks and immigration laws that changed who could come to America.

Why did El-Sayed say "habibi"?

It means "my dear" or "my beloved" in Arabic. El-Sayed used it as a playful address to a political opponent. He relished the prospect that Vance, who had attacked him during the campaign, might be the person to administer his oath. He followed the jab with a nod to the Michigan–Ohio State rivalry, scoring it one for the Wolverines and zero for the Buckeyes. The Senate says the vice president typically administers the oath at the start of a new Congress. In the vice president's absence, the senator chosen to preside in their absence, known as the president pro tempore, can do it.

What does "Arab America" mean?

It's a collective name for Americans with roots in the Arab world, including immigrants and families that have lived in the US for generations. El-Sayed, the Michigan-born son of Egyptian immigrants, is part of that story. So were many of the first arrivals from what is now Lebanon and Syria, who were Christian. In Hamtramck, another city in the Detroit area, the city's own planning documents describe both Yemeni and Bangladeshi migration. Arab identity and Muslim faith can overlap. They describe different things.

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