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One lousy dinner. You call this the grand gesture?

This February, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff joined 50 members of the Muslim and Arab-American communities in an informal dinner held in a Detroit suburb by Dr. and Mrs. Yahya Basha, prominent Muslims. The purpose of the gathering was to help foster a new line of communication between federal agencies, Muslims and Arabs for a better and safer America.

My question: When given the rare opportunity to encounter a government official, must it always take place within or near large cities? Metro Detroit is the least of DHS's problems. What about the rest of America? Does anyone care about their opinion?

While about 500,000 Muslims and Arab Americans live in the Detroit area, more than 48 percent also live in California, New York, Florida and New Jersey, and many of them live in small towns, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.   

A 2004 University of Michigan study found that 86 percent of Arabs and Muslims from the metro Detroit area said they felt at home in the United States and 91 percent said they are proud to be American. But the study downplayed the opinions of other significant Muslim and Arab communities that continue to be ignored by the government.  

Since I've lived all over the motor city state, I know firsthand what it's like to go to school and work in a city where there are Muslims everywhere. Muslims and Arabs alike are generally accepted as critical members within various communities in the Detroit area. However, I also know what it's like to grow up in a small town of less than 40,000 people where the Muslim and Arab community consists of only 30 to 40 people. I can't think of a time when a significant political leader addressed my town or my people.

As for the government's efforts to bridge the gap between federal agencies, Muslims and Arab communities, I think it's overzealous to suggest that Muslims and Arab Americans across the country are ready to forgive the same government that discriminated against them, enduring years of unfair racial profiling and questioning.

I'm not completely impressed. It's convenient for Chertoff and other political leaders to assume that by reaching out to one community this is somehow equivalent to reaching out to all. It's not that simple and it's certainly not enough.

My hope is that the government will recognize this void and strive to make better efforts at reaching out to those Arab and Muslim communities that long to be heard. Only then will this country begin to make real change. 

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