Muslims in America
Dec. 22nd, 2006 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naomikritzerSo, in response to the shocking news that Rep. Keith Ellison is going to take his oath of office on the holy book of his faith, some idiot congressman in Virginia sent out a letter to his similarly bigoted constituents about how OMG MUSLIMS MIGHT IMMIGRATE HERE and MIGHT EVEN BE ELECTED TO OFFICE and contaminate their fellow office-holders with the death-ray vibes from their Korans. Or something. You know, it's not really clear what he's afraid of.
Anyway, I've been thinking about this a lot, because the thing is, in addition to having a Muslim congressional rep as of January 4th (did you know that they don't even really swear on anything during the actual oath-taking? the Bibles/Torahs/Korans/Baghavad-Gitas are just for the photo op afterwards) (and don't you think Mitt Romney probably took his oath of office on a Book of Mormon, if anything? Why isn't THAT riveting bit of news being reported on?) In ADDITION to being represented by a Muslim in congress, I live in a town that has a significant Muslim population. How significant? Well, my daughter's kindergarten class is 14% Muslim. That's only 3 kids out of 21, but still, that's more Jewish classmates than I had as a kid in Madison. Keith Ellison is not an immigrant, but almost all the Muslims in Minneapolis are, and nearly all are from Somalia.
Let me pause to note that of course, the Somali immigrant community is a diverse community that includes a lot of different kinds of people.
Moving on, let me blatantly stereotype:
Somalis rock.
Seriously. I feel incredibly fortunate that my city became a center for Somali settlement. The Somalis I meet (and since most of them live in a neighborhood very close to mine, I meet a lot of them) are genuinely delighted to be here. They are excited by the opportunities in America. First, the opportunity to get an education. You can attend the public schools here until you're 21, if you choose, and Somalis who are young enough to attend move heaven and earth to do so. Somali adults with children are active and involved parents at their children's schools. (Molly has one classmate who is also already reading: it's one of the Muslim boys in her class.) When I went to the Franklin Avenue library one afternoon with the girls, it was crowded with Somalis, both adults and children, checking out books and magazines.
Second, they are excited by the economic opportunities, and most embody the Puritan economic values (thrift and hard work) in a way that would put your average New Englander to shame. (Admittedly, New England has been corrupted over the years by the Irish. Now there is an immigrant group to fear. They don't want to assimilate! They wear "kiss me, I'm Irish" buttons and hold parades!! They make hideous attempts to fake the accent!!! But I digress.)
Third, the Somalis in Minneapolis are clearly really excited about the opportunity to be citizens of a democracy. I worked on a mayoral campaign in 2001, and there were a bunch of Somali volunteers -- most of whom couldn't even vote yet because they hadn't been in the U.S. for long enough. Our primary election fell on September 11th, and on the Election Night victory party I saw an elderly Somali woman wearing a hijab...and a t-shirt with a waving American flag with the words WE STAND TOGETHER.
The Somali immigrants I've met are learning English as fast as they possibly can. When I take a taxi (almost all the taxi drivers are Somali men), the radio is always tuned to NPR, so that the driver can improve his English by listening to people talking. They are also fearless about using their English. Shortly after 9-11, a money-transfer business in town was busted for possibly funneling money to terrorists. (Which they probably were, in the sense that they were paying bribes to strongmen in Somalia in order to get the money to where it was supposed to go, and some of these people were almost certainly terrorists.) The mid-morning NPR host at the time did a show on this issue, and was obviously rather surprised when she was flooded by calls from Somalis. I found that show fascinating because of the diversity of opinion within the community. Every single caller disagreed with the rest. There was someone who wanted the money transfer business opened back up ASAP, because he needed to get money to his mother, who depended on income from him to buy food. The next caller said that Somalis shouldn't be even asking to have the business reopened, because Americans tended to be suspicious of all Muslims and this would confirm people's suspicions that Somalis didn't care about fighting terrorism. The next caller said that the REAL problem here were the strongmen demanding bribes, and wanted the U.S. to address that problem, as it infuriated him to know that some of the money meant for HIS relatives was going to buy guns for warlords. And so on. It was like....hmm. It was like listening to a bunch of my Grandaddy's friends at his Jewish Community Center.
Somalis are not only Muslim, but visibly Muslim. The women and girls all wear head coverings and long dresses, though I've seen an amazing array of fashion choices within that structure, including Somali teenagers with hip-hugging ankle-length denim skirts, and Target employees who wear a hijab made out of fabric in the Target red. There was a big controversy in town earlier this year when a few Somali taxi drivers started refusing to transport people from the airport who were obviously carrying alcohol. What a lot of people hearing about this didn't realize was this: the only people being punished by this choice were the drivers themselves. They had to go to the back of the line waiting for a passenger; the passenger with the booze just hopped into the next cab, because there are always more cabs than passengers at the airport. For the most part, though, the Somalis in Minneapolis live their faith inobtrusively. They arrange with their employer to be able to pray during the workday. High school students meet in an empty classroom during Ramadan, rather than going to lunch. Also, everywhere I go I see green bumper stickers that say things like GOD BLESS AMERICA and then give a cite from the Koran -- I have no idea who prints these, but I see them all the time.
You know, I'm not an expert on any of this, but it seems to me that a thriving community of people who are living evidence of the fact that it is possible to be American AND Muslim is a good thing.
Historically, America has been a haven for religious reform movements. The reasons for this are pretty obvious. It's hard for a reform movement to take hold when its leaders have to fear for their lives. It happens sometimes, obviously -- see, for example, Lutheranism -- but it makes it a hell of a lot harder. Islam is a faith that is in dire need of a reformist movement. There are entire countries where the women aren't even allowed to drive (despite the fact that one of Muhammed's wives led an army from the back of a camel!), and are required to cover their faces in public. If Islam is going to have reformers, they need to come from somewhere. It's a lot more likely to be the U.S. than Saudi Arabia. Do you know how they punish "blasphemy" in Saudi Arabia? Sentencing a teacher to 300 lashes for condoning homosexuality and praising a Syrian poet is the kind of thing that puts a damper on reformist activity. If people want to get away from that sort of environment, we should be throwing open the doors.
Anyway, Rep. Goode, should you stumble across this, let me suggest this to you: come to Minneapolis. Visit the Muslim community here. See the horror of what can happen if you let Their Kind immigrate: you get a thriving community of hard working, flag waving, school attending, taxpaying new Americans who make you and your ilk look like the lazy, xenophobic, slack-jawed losers that you are.
Anyway, I've been thinking about this a lot, because the thing is, in addition to having a Muslim congressional rep as of January 4th (did you know that they don't even really swear on anything during the actual oath-taking? the Bibles/Torahs/Korans/Baghavad-Gitas are just for the photo op afterwards) (and don't you think Mitt Romney probably took his oath of office on a Book of Mormon, if anything? Why isn't THAT riveting bit of news being reported on?) In ADDITION to being represented by a Muslim in congress, I live in a town that has a significant Muslim population. How significant? Well, my daughter's kindergarten class is 14% Muslim. That's only 3 kids out of 21, but still, that's more Jewish classmates than I had as a kid in Madison. Keith Ellison is not an immigrant, but almost all the Muslims in Minneapolis are, and nearly all are from Somalia.
Let me pause to note that of course, the Somali immigrant community is a diverse community that includes a lot of different kinds of people.
Moving on, let me blatantly stereotype:
Somalis rock.
Seriously. I feel incredibly fortunate that my city became a center for Somali settlement. The Somalis I meet (and since most of them live in a neighborhood very close to mine, I meet a lot of them) are genuinely delighted to be here. They are excited by the opportunities in America. First, the opportunity to get an education. You can attend the public schools here until you're 21, if you choose, and Somalis who are young enough to attend move heaven and earth to do so. Somali adults with children are active and involved parents at their children's schools. (Molly has one classmate who is also already reading: it's one of the Muslim boys in her class.) When I went to the Franklin Avenue library one afternoon with the girls, it was crowded with Somalis, both adults and children, checking out books and magazines.
Second, they are excited by the economic opportunities, and most embody the Puritan economic values (thrift and hard work) in a way that would put your average New Englander to shame. (Admittedly, New England has been corrupted over the years by the Irish. Now there is an immigrant group to fear. They don't want to assimilate! They wear "kiss me, I'm Irish" buttons and hold parades!! They make hideous attempts to fake the accent!!! But I digress.)
Third, the Somalis in Minneapolis are clearly really excited about the opportunity to be citizens of a democracy. I worked on a mayoral campaign in 2001, and there were a bunch of Somali volunteers -- most of whom couldn't even vote yet because they hadn't been in the U.S. for long enough. Our primary election fell on September 11th, and on the Election Night victory party I saw an elderly Somali woman wearing a hijab...and a t-shirt with a waving American flag with the words WE STAND TOGETHER.
The Somali immigrants I've met are learning English as fast as they possibly can. When I take a taxi (almost all the taxi drivers are Somali men), the radio is always tuned to NPR, so that the driver can improve his English by listening to people talking. They are also fearless about using their English. Shortly after 9-11, a money-transfer business in town was busted for possibly funneling money to terrorists. (Which they probably were, in the sense that they were paying bribes to strongmen in Somalia in order to get the money to where it was supposed to go, and some of these people were almost certainly terrorists.) The mid-morning NPR host at the time did a show on this issue, and was obviously rather surprised when she was flooded by calls from Somalis. I found that show fascinating because of the diversity of opinion within the community. Every single caller disagreed with the rest. There was someone who wanted the money transfer business opened back up ASAP, because he needed to get money to his mother, who depended on income from him to buy food. The next caller said that Somalis shouldn't be even asking to have the business reopened, because Americans tended to be suspicious of all Muslims and this would confirm people's suspicions that Somalis didn't care about fighting terrorism. The next caller said that the REAL problem here were the strongmen demanding bribes, and wanted the U.S. to address that problem, as it infuriated him to know that some of the money meant for HIS relatives was going to buy guns for warlords. And so on. It was like....hmm. It was like listening to a bunch of my Grandaddy's friends at his Jewish Community Center.
Somalis are not only Muslim, but visibly Muslim. The women and girls all wear head coverings and long dresses, though I've seen an amazing array of fashion choices within that structure, including Somali teenagers with hip-hugging ankle-length denim skirts, and Target employees who wear a hijab made out of fabric in the Target red. There was a big controversy in town earlier this year when a few Somali taxi drivers started refusing to transport people from the airport who were obviously carrying alcohol. What a lot of people hearing about this didn't realize was this: the only people being punished by this choice were the drivers themselves. They had to go to the back of the line waiting for a passenger; the passenger with the booze just hopped into the next cab, because there are always more cabs than passengers at the airport. For the most part, though, the Somalis in Minneapolis live their faith inobtrusively. They arrange with their employer to be able to pray during the workday. High school students meet in an empty classroom during Ramadan, rather than going to lunch. Also, everywhere I go I see green bumper stickers that say things like GOD BLESS AMERICA and then give a cite from the Koran -- I have no idea who prints these, but I see them all the time.
You know, I'm not an expert on any of this, but it seems to me that a thriving community of people who are living evidence of the fact that it is possible to be American AND Muslim is a good thing.
Historically, America has been a haven for religious reform movements. The reasons for this are pretty obvious. It's hard for a reform movement to take hold when its leaders have to fear for their lives. It happens sometimes, obviously -- see, for example, Lutheranism -- but it makes it a hell of a lot harder. Islam is a faith that is in dire need of a reformist movement. There are entire countries where the women aren't even allowed to drive (despite the fact that one of Muhammed's wives led an army from the back of a camel!), and are required to cover their faces in public. If Islam is going to have reformers, they need to come from somewhere. It's a lot more likely to be the U.S. than Saudi Arabia. Do you know how they punish "blasphemy" in Saudi Arabia? Sentencing a teacher to 300 lashes for condoning homosexuality and praising a Syrian poet is the kind of thing that puts a damper on reformist activity. If people want to get away from that sort of environment, we should be throwing open the doors.
Anyway, Rep. Goode, should you stumble across this, let me suggest this to you: come to Minneapolis. Visit the Muslim community here. See the horror of what can happen if you let Their Kind immigrate: you get a thriving community of hard working, flag waving, school attending, taxpaying new Americans who make you and your ilk look like the lazy, xenophobic, slack-jawed losers that you are.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-23 04:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-23 04:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-23 04:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-23 08:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-23 01:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-23 02:11 pm (UTC)>for religious reform movements.
Such as my Mennonite ancestors/cousins. Who wear beards and other funny things on _their_ heads and refuse to assimilate and don't want to serve in the army and ....
Best part of the whole thing
Date: 2006-12-24 03:08 am (UTC)No one takes the oath of office in the House on a book of any kind. It's done with one hand raised and the other empty. To use a holy book would in fact be unconstitutional. All those shots of congresscritters with a bible are propaganda. So, not only is rep Goode grossly discriminatory, but he's also a plain old fashioned idiot. More info at: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/12/15/112340/41
Fair Warning
Date: 2006-12-25 10:54 am (UTC)Sometimes its really just an annoyance to have to do the work of 2 men because a crate might have alchohol in it.
Re: Fair Warning
Date: 2006-12-25 07:39 pm (UTC)I have no idea what you mean by "the ramp" or what it is about Somalis that makes your job so much more difficult. FTR, I don't believe that accepting immigrants means that we need to accept people refusing to do their jobs. For instance, there are taxi companies that opt to require their drivers to carry any passenger, and I respect their decision.
Are you saying that you work daily with people who try to hit you? Have you discussed this with law enforcement?
And just a fair warning, any hostile visitors from your blog will need to post under LJ handles or sign their names; I do not attempt to conduct dialog with hostile people who post anonymously.
Re: Fair Warning
Date: 2006-12-25 07:51 pm (UTC)I read Scalzi's whatever blog, and I very recently responded to your post on a thread. This might give you some idea.
'Are you saying that you work daily with people who try to hit you?'
No, the standards of driving safety tend to vary. I've discussed this with Management. I have been told that they will get right on it.
todays new brand of slavery and dedicated underclass.
Date: 2006-12-26 03:02 am (UTC)They find these immigrant workers to do your job for far less than any american could consider trying to compete for. You have been marginalized in your own country.
Its not that you hate immigrants, its that bringing them here sets up a dedicated underclass. Bringing immigrant workers in should never be a tool to disenfranchise hundreds to thousands of workers who who have gained seniority and done their jobs long enough to make careers out of it. You should have more protection than that. they have fucked you over.
immigrant workers - not just an issue about terrorism - its todays new brand of slavery and dedicated underclass.
It must be very difficult for a person in your shoes who is on the cusp of losing his livelihood to see people overjoyed about immigrant workers without flushing out the whole reality.
On the other hand, it is an amasing success story how well the Somali in Mn have adjusted and PEACEFULLY assimilated into our culture.
they are wonderful. I am glad they are here. Northwest on the other hand needs to go to hell.
Re: Fair Warning
Date: 2006-12-27 01:19 am (UTC)I would say that from my observations, recent immigrants tend not to be very good drivers. This really isn't all that surprising. If they didn't hold a driver's license before immigrating, they're new drivers; inexperienced drivers are often not very good, which is part of why teenagers pay such high insurance rates. In addition, if they came from a place where most people didn't own cars, they probably didn't spend the hours and hours riding around in their parents' car, which is how most Americans absorb the basic rules of driving.
I think that drivers' licenses should be tightened up a lot, for everyone: I also think that old people should have to take behind-the-wheel tests on a regular basis. I think it would be reasonable to require people who drive for their jobs to have held a driver's license for five years, to take tests of proficiency, to maintain a clean record, etc. I'm not holding my breath for any of this to happen, though, as driving as viewed as an inalienable right by a hell of a lot of people, and corporations will fight against any regulation that would require them to pay a higher wage.
Given that Northwest is run by people who think "shared sacrifice" means "everyone takes a pay cut but me," and given that the entire aviation industry has been pretty much economically dysfunctional since the 1980s, I'm not surprised that your job is stressful and that management is making stupid decisions.
Yet another Minneapolitan
Date: 2006-12-26 02:49 pm (UTC)I lived in on of the Riverton Co-op buildings and worked in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, which is basically the epicenter of the recently arrived Somali population. As far as I can tell, they're people like any other-- which means you get some good, some indifferent, and some ill-informed bigots who enjoy ranting about "Jew plots". There is a significant community work ethic that encourages and supports attempts at financial betterment. The good aspects of this are fairly obvious. Members who've been here longer and are relatively well-off plow funds back into the community, offering loans and buying cars to recent arrivals. Of course, a not inconsequential percentage of those recent arrivals haven't been here long enough to spell 'DMV' much less get a license, but they tear around in minivans undeterred. Most of the Somali workers I've met are hard workers, but there's often a significant language and/or qualification gap. This can make working with these particular individuals a frustrating and occasionally dangerous endeavor. That combined with the tight-knit community and cultural differences results almost inevitably in separate communities within a workplace, which leads just as inevitably to friction and resentment.
Also, much of what we've been describing are the first-generation adults, who are often relieved at their escape and living in much greater comfort than they might have been back in Somalia. A good number of adolescents, on the other hand, have assimilated a nice heavy dose of American entitlement, and compare their personal circumstances to other Americans, not other Somalis. This engenders resentment and rebelliousness, which is potentially volatile. It isolates them from their traditional community, but they are still different enough that not many pre-existing American communities will embrace them. If they don't inherit the work ethic of their parents, we'll have a tight-knit, highly religious, sullen and resentful community of underprivileged young men. You don't need to be an ill-informed bigot to view that situation with some alarm.
Please understand, I don't apply these statements universally to all members of any race or culture. I don't fault them their efforts or wish them ill (and "go back to Africa!" would be very, very ill). I'm actually proud that their community has chosen ours, and that our community has embraced them... well, at least better than they likely would've been embraced in Virginia. But I do think circumstances are conspiring against their community in the long-term, and I don't see any real good solutions, and that might well lead to ugly situations for everybody's community in the near future.
That's no reason to hate anybody, but it might just be an argument against throwing wide the floodgates without some careful consideration.
Re: Fair Warning
Date: 2006-12-26 07:46 pm (UTC)Re: Fair Warning
Date: 2006-12-27 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-26 03:02 am (UTC)Re: Fighting Irish
Date: 2006-12-27 01:03 am (UTC)