My hometown is in the news every day. I hear it on the radio, see it on television and read about it in print. It’s never good. Dearborn, Mich., is now known as the place where protesters chant “Death to Israel, Death to America.” It’s the city that President Biden is reportedly trying to placate ahead of the election as he cobbles together a Mideast policy that doesn’t undermine our Israeli ally.
It wasn’t always like this. When I was growing up between the 1950s and 1970s, Dearborn was known for Ford Motor Co., then the second biggest carmaker in the world, whose headquarters was four miles away from my family’s house. Its iconic brand of vehicles synonymous with American car culture—the muscular Mustang, the stylish Thunderbird, the rugged F-150 truck—defined our radiant town.
