Shawarma signs removed for being 'insensitive' reminders of social distancing - Dearborn Press and Guide

After several Dearborn residents complained, the Downtown Development Authorities removed signs that had been placed in both the east and west districts.

The signs, which reminded residents to stay “24 shawarma sandwiches apart” instead of the traditional 6 feet, were causing an uproar among some residents. Other signs about staying the width of a Ford -F150 or a sunflower were not scrutinized.

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"There was no intent to make people feel negative about this or offended," Cristina Sheppard-Decius, the organization’s executive director, told the Detroit Free Press. "This was really meant to celebrate food and culture in our community."

Sheppard-Decius said the marketing campaign was aimed at reminding people to stay safe while out shopping and reinvigorating the city's economy.

Rima Fadlallah and Yasmeen Kadouh, who have made international headlines in recent years for their podcast “Dearborn Girl,” were two of the detractors from the signs.

"The use of shawarma is not as nearly as damaging as the use of some other type of misrepresentation of our community," Kadouh told the Free Press. "But I do think using shawarma paves the way for people to make insensitive comments to Dearborn. I think everything about the campaign was tone deaf."

Fadlallah agreed and said Arab Americans should not be minimized to just their famous food types.

"They need to hire people who are from the community — and I mean Arab Americans from the community," she said. "If you're going to try to formulate marketing to an Arab audience or to a Black or Latino audience, you need to have those people from those communities formulating those messages. No one is going to understand a community better than its members."

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