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You really ought to visit Dearborn, MI sometime. My company's office is there, so I get over there frequently. It's an extremely diverse community with a checkered history in the area of race relations. However, as many are aware, it now boasts the largest Arabic population outside the Middle East, and is the home of the largest mosque in North America.
The diversity is truly fascinating. Many businesses have outdoor signs that are bi-lingual, and some businesses have signs only in Arabic. It's not unusual to see a group of women wearing burkas walking through the neighborhood or at the playground with their kids mixing with other women in typical attire. Most folks socialize pretty well, and show general respect and tolerance for each others cultures and religions. The school populations are also very diverse, both public and parochial.
The city is not without its issues, but what city of any size isn't. There are sometimes ethnic tensions, but with Detroit just across the boarder from Dearborn, racial and ethnic tensions are nothing new around here.
But the issue of religious tension is nowhere near the issue that one might think or expect. Sure it happens from time to time, but given the diversity of the population, it's quite understated. The themes that you hear from both mosque and church are more likely to be those of tolerance and respect than division.
There's hope....
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