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21. Staying off the Bottom of the Melting Pot: Somali Refugees Respond to a Changing U.S. Immigration Climate

Author:
Ihotu Ali
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
As a nation of immigrants, the United States has also been a nation of nativists...We have welcomed immigrants in periods of expansion and optimism, reviled them in periods of stagnation and cynicism...In short, American nativism has had less to do with 'them' than us...Fear and loathing of foreigners reach such levels when the nation's problems become so intractable that some people seek scapegoats. Typically, these periods feature a political or economic crisis, combined with a loss of faith in American institutions and a sense that the national community is gravely fractured. Nativists' targets have reflected America's basic divisions: class, race, religion, and, to a lesser extent, language and culture.
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Somalia

22. Integration Experiences and Youth Perspectives: An Exploratory Study of School-Going Somali Youth in Melbourne, Australia and Minneapolis, Minnesota

Author:
Yusuf Sheikh Omar
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
This brief study explores Somali youth experiences and perceptions of integration experiences in the school context, comparing the differences and similarities of those who live in Melbourne and Minneapolis. Additionally, the study touches on parents' experiences with their children's attitudes in the new environment. Based on interviews with Somali youth from the cities of Melbourne, Australia, and Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States, they are generally aspirants to, and positive about, the current and future educational opportunities they have in Australia and the United States. Those from Minneapolis tend to articulate these opportunities more clearly. Youth and parents agree that Somali girls perform better at school compared to boys. Students' preferences for post-secondary programs are varied but the most popular reason is to help Somali people who are in difficult situations because of the protracted civil war. Both student groups from Melbourne and Minneapolis mentioned several educational challenges. Girls believe that parents pushing their daughters to marry early is the biggest obstacle that may prevent them from continuing further studies and future professional work. Whether they are in or out of school, most Somali students who participated in this study are friends primarily with other Somali youth because of cultural and religious affinities, with the added benefit of pleasing their parents. Finally, with the exception of two girls, Somali youth in this study feel they have been fairly treated by their teachers.
Political Geography:
United States, Australia, Somalia, Melbourne, Minneapolis, and Minnesota

23. Beginning Again: From Refugee to Citizen

Author:
Ahmed I Samatar
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
A key feature of this phase of globalization is a speedy catalyzation of a heretofore unseen degree of human mobility and cultural interpenetration. Unlike the earlier epochs in the making of the modern world (16th through the early 20th-century), when Europeans were the main groups leaving their homelands to find better lives in other parts of the word, the contemporary era is witness to a dramatic reversal movement. Many in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia have come or are earnestly planning to lift their heels for the “old” West (even to Southern and Eastern Europe) and “neo-Europe” (e.g., the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). The phenomenal arrival of tens of thousands of Somalis in the United States within the last two decades (first as a trickle and then in larger numbers since the 1990s) is to a great extent part of this trend. It is a happening that is, in one sense, part of an old story, as President Roosevelt correctly asserted, and a continuous aspect in the quintessential making of these United States, marked by the settlement of people from almost every region of the world. As a matter of fact, since the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965 and the Refugee Act of 1980, more than twenty million legal immigrants have entered the U.S. A dramatic demographic consequence of these flows of people, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, is this: At present, those Americans who are foreign-born and their children compose around one-fifth of the American population. If the Somali presence in America is one slice of the latest iteration, the potential for a decent, let alone notable success—in both material and mental terms—depends on how, individually and collectively, they assess the complexities of the new environment and, subsequently, snatch any legitimate turns of chance. To state this point is not to under estimate how difficult circumstances have been, are, or could be. The life histories of others who came before Somalis, including some of European ancestry (e.g., the Irish and southerners from around the Mediterranean),testify to the cruel treatment that might await and the bogushindrances that one must struggle against during the transition.
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand

24. Local Lives, Transnational Ties, and the Meaning of Citizenship: Somali Histories and Herstories from Small Town America

Author:
Helga Leitner
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
United States immigration policy is based on the assumption that every legal immigrant to this country is on the road to becoming a U.S. citizen. In order to become a citizen, immigrants are explicitly or tacitly expected to assimilate into the U.S. sociocultural and economic system, to shed their attachment and allegiance to their home country, and to devote their loyalty to just one country, the United States. The first line of the citizenship oath makes this clear: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign…state…of…which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.” Viewing loyalty in such zero-sum terms has blinded American policymakers to migrants' transnational practices, ties, and multiple allegiances.
Political Geography:
United States and America

25. Somali Mental Health

Author:
David McGraw Schuchman and Colleen McDonald
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Over the past seven years, there has been a vast influx of Somali refugees and immigrants making their new home in Minnesota, with the overwhelming majority residing in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. While official estimates indicate that less than 20,000 Somalis are in Minnesota, it is well accepted that there are actually 50,000–75,000. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact number due to limitations in census data collection and the continual growth resulting from such factors as secondary migration. Since Minnesota has welcomed African immigrants, family members who live in other states within the U.S. and Canada continue to join many newly arrived families. The prospect of Somali immigrants and refugees returning to their homelands is unlikely. Continuing war, civil strife, and economic crises make the outlook for return bleak. Therefore, it is important that Minnesota continue to embrace and welcome Somalis into the community and assist in their acculturation process.
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Canada