Director’s Report

Kayse Jama
Executive Director

Everyone agrees that the recent arrest of a Somali-American teenager by the FBI raises more questions than answers. Two questions that I have been asking myself and the broader community are: (1) Did we, as a society, fail this young man and (2) What can be done to prevent other youth from feeling alienated? After all, young people—and in this case, young Americans—who don’t feel part of the fabric of our community could turn to any malevolent sub-group offering a sense of belonging. If they feel the greater society is an “enemy,” youth may turn to all sort of groups for acceptance, purpose or a cause. Some turn to gangs, others to violent extremist groups based on ethnic or religious identity. These could be Muslim groups, such as Al-Shabab in Somalia, or white supremacist groups.

In the case of the Somali-American youth in the United States, there are many factors that contribute to disfranchisement and social dislocation. Many young people are trying to relate to two cultures, neither one of which completely accepts them. This can lead to identity crises.

As soon as these Somali youth arrive in the United States, they become “Black youth” in urban America. Their sense of identity begins to shift from their religion, tribe or clan to an American identity based on a U.S.-centric vision of race. Along with this new identity comes much of the historic and current oppression also endured by African Americans. Whether in school settings, when interacting with the police, or through being denied employment, study after study reveals that youth of color—particularly African-Americans and Latino—are at the bottom of all social indicators. For people of color, Oregon is no exception. One just has to read the Urban League of Portland’s “State of Black Oregon” report released in 2009 to be reminded of this sad fact.

But there is another dimension to the plight of the Somali-American youth—cultural and religious isolation. The United States’ hostility and treatment toward religious and cultural minorities has been well documented. Somali-American and other Muslim youth are bullied in school hallways, teased in the classrooms and are denied employment opportunities simply because they are Muslims.

Home is not a safe space either. Somali-American youth are required to be 100 percent Somali and their experiences outside the home are expected to be left at the door.  Whatever challenges they might have in school or dealing with the police are simply attributed by their parents and Somali community members as youth being “bad” and the inevitable results of leaving their culture.  Consequently, the youth become dislocated from home at the same time they feel isolated by the entire society. In addition, there are very few safe spaces or culturally appropriate programs where youth can discuss and share their frustration.

One has to wonder, then, why are we so shocked and surprised when we learn that these youth are drawn to extremist groups in which they can find a misguided and even dangerous sense of acceptance and purpose?

The recent arrest leaves no doubt that these issues do not just affect Somali-American youth, but all urban youth of color in the United States. But what can be done?

The Somali-American youth issue should be approached in the context of a larger equity framework, one that addresses the plight of all youth of color. Reponses should include a bottom-up approach, where the Somali and larger community come to address key questions. How does race and racism factor into the social dislocation that the youth are facing? How does our foreign policy, war and trauma contribute to the Somali-American youth’s plight? What role does Islamaphobia and cultural isolation play? How and why is the Somali-American community failing to save their own children? What part can youth themselves play in solving their own issues? And what accountability mechanisms can and should be in place for all the stakeholders, including local, state, and federal governments as well as the Somali-American community, Muslim religious institutions, Somali-American youth themselves, and broader society? By answering these questions, we might be able develop a recipe of success not only for Somali-American youth but for many other at-risk youth.

REFERENCES

Somali population, cultural tension rising in St. Cloud
by Ambar Espinoza, Minnesota Public Radio
March 15, 2010
St. Cloud, Minn. — The Facebook group, “I hate the Somalians at Tech High,” didn’t live online for a long time, but word traveled fast among high school students in the St. Cloud area
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/15/st-cloud-tensions

Somali Youth Decry Police Profiling, Harassment
Edwin Okong’o, Mshale News
Published 07/03/2008 – 8:09 p.m.
Of all immigrant African youth living in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, Somalis are more likely to end up in jail.
http://www.mshale.com/article/Features/Features/Somali_Youth_Decry_Police_Profiling_Harassment/18193

State of Black Oregon, Urban League of Portland, 2009
http://ulpdx.org/documents/UrbanLeague-StateofBlackOregon.pdf