In search of Islam in America

From the Detroit Free Press

Often, the best way to learn about the mystery of faith is to hit the road and go see for yourself. That's a timeless spiritual truth and it's precisely what nine young Midwestern journalists, ages 12 to 18, did last week in their quest to explore Islam in the United States.

Five were from Indianapolis and four were from Marquette in northern Michigan. They met in the middle for several days of reporting in Wayne and Oakland counties.

"This is a good place, because you've got very tightly knit Muslim communities in Dearborn and then we also could talk to people who live more as a minority in other areas," Mallory St. Claire, 16, of Indianapolis told me during a visit to the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn.

The team of nine fanned out, visiting Muslim centers in Detroit and several suburbs. They also interviewed people attending the Lebanese Festival in Birmingham on July 25. By the end of last week, their appraisal of Muslim-American life was remarkably savvy.

"Overall, this is a very friendly area, but I did find more people talking about discrimination here than I expected," said Amber Carter, 17, of Indianapolis.

The reporters are not Muslims and they tried to approach their journalistic challenge as objective, outside observers.