Looking back now, it is amazing to see how diverse Minnesota has become and how much the make up of the population has changed since my childhood. Of course there are enormous challenges with immigration, and there are many Americans who are for and against it.
Accepting immigrants into our nation places a heavy strain on already tight financial and social resources. We need to invest a lot in immigrants and their families to ensure they will succeed. Some do truly amazing and achieve the American Dream while others end up straining resources by being stuck inside housing projects, on welfare, and even worse becoming terrorists.
The recent attack at the Watergate Mall in Kenya proves that terrorism has its reach. There are beliefs that two Somali Americans from Minnesota were recruited by the extremist group Al-Shabab and participated in this horrendous act of violence.
Yet, our country has been founded on freedom and immigration. We have always been and probably always will be a nation of immigrants. We cannot close the door to all. It is a delicate balance and one that is extremely complex. No matter what your views are on immigration, it is something to deeply contemplate and try to understand.
My children are part of this new Minnesota and have children with African, Asian and Mexican heritage in their class. Since Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United States, I wanted to share some additional information I found from the following resources about the Somali people and why they are coming to Minnesota.
All information below from The World Relief Minnesota website. Click here for link. The population of the country was between million before This country had a democratic government until there was a military coup in , led by Siad Barre. Different clans fought among themselves to gain control of the country, which led to civil war and anarchy. A resulting famine, exacerbated by the civil strife gained world attention, leading to U.
After the killing of U. From that time to the present, Somalis have fled the country and many have lived in refugee camps in Kenya. Many Somalis were resettled in Europe, Canada, and the U. S, estimated to be around 50, or more. Why here? Somalis originally came to Minnesota because of the good economy and low unemployment. More recently they have come because there is a recognized community here — Somali shops, businesses and restaurants.
I also found this publication to be very informative when discussing the challenges and opportunities with immigration to Minnesota. Here are a few screen shots of the report that I found particularly interesting. Very excellent and informative post. Sitting beside her was one of those coincidences of fate that can lead to good things in many directions when people recognize them and act, as you have done.
Thanks in behalf of her and all the others in her situation. My daughter has befriended a little girl whose parents are from Somalia.
It will be really nice to connect more with our Somalian community here in MN. Very nice read! Minnesota Weather. Here's How To Ensure Your Furnace Is Winter-Ready With a chilly week ahead, many homeowners may be thinking of turning on their furnaces for the first time this season. The product, used for clearing driveways and sidewalks of ice and snow, is made in North Dakota.
With the supply issues in many industries, even something made so close to Minnesota still might run out this season. In it, Minnesota and Wisconsin are forecast to have "equal chances" for above-, near-, and below-normal temperature and precipitation. So what does that mean? National Team Match In St. Somalis retain primarily an oral culture in which religious and political oratory as well as storytelling, songs and poetry are highly valued.
Many Somalis also speak Arabic, the language of Islam. Older Somalis may have received education in the colonial languages — English in the north and Italian in the south. Some Somalis in Minnesota may also speak Swahili as a result of living in Kenyan refugee camps. Many social norms in Somalia are derived from Islamic tradition.
Islam forbids believers to eat pork products or drink alcohol. Those who strictly follow Islam may not work in an establishment that serves either pork or alcohol.
Islam requires the faithful to pray five times per day. Some Somalis will stop work to pray at prescribed times or pray during a break or other arranged time. While many Somalis are hard working, law abiding, good citizens, there appears to be a significant percentage who maintain their clan ties and animosities, make no attempt at integrating themselves into the general population, and are prone to violence.
Some of the violence is Somali vs. Somali- for example the triple murder at the Seward Market in and the daytime shooting a few weeks ago on Franklin Ave.
But a lot of it is more akin to the piracy which takes place off the Somali coast: gangs of Somalis have been mugging area bicyclists for years and the trail that follows the light rail. Residents of Minneapolis will also likely remember the youtube video posted by young Somali gangsters a year or two back showing them assaulting random pedestrians and bicyclists with no apparent motive other than laughs.
For example, rampant littering, uninsured driving, treatment of Somali women as chattel and sex slaves by the men, welfare fraud. Even little actions show great disrespect: II can say honestly that every person I have seen but into a line in the last few years has been a young Somali.
While it would be worrying enough that there is a group in the state with this apparent love of violence and disrespect of social conventions, what makes me even more scared is the growth of the community. Although I have never been able to find any firm numbers, it appears that the local Somali community is maintaining the fertility rate of their homeland- somewhere around 5 or 6 kids per family. And likewise- although official numbers are not available a huge percentage of the Somali population relies on public money and social services for almost every facet of their lives i.
And if public support ever goes away, the muggings seem sure to get even more frequent. I welcome the fact that CBS opened a comment section on this story. Our local papers, the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press will almost never allow comments on articles related to the Somali community, and when they do the comments are heavily censured.
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