By: Michelle Wright, Marisol Rivera, Clara Hinklin, and Gavin Metzger
Somali Bantu’s experience when it comes to media shows many different sides of refugee life. This collection of media sources shows four different representations of Somali Bantus in the media.
View of Lisbon Street in Lewiston, Maine, where many shops are owned by immigrants. Photo by Melanie Stetson Freeman
In an article by journalist, Cynthia Anderson titled Refugees Poured into Maine. Here’s How it Changed Me, Anderson tells her story of Somali Bantu refugee assimilation into Lewiston, Maine, and how they changed her as a person. In her article, Anderson goes over a wide variety of topics when it comes to Somali Bantus in Lewiston, including the public response to refugees both positive and negative along with how refugees themselves are adjusting to American life. This variety of topics also includes the stories of a lot of independent Muslim women and their efforts to better themselves, their children, and their community among other ideas such as diversity and challenges faced by both Lewiston natives and refugees. Although the majority of these accounts show a positive side of the refugees in Lewiston it doesn’t ignore the Lewiston residents that don’t accept the refugees and discriminate against them, blaming them for what is wrong in the city, and setbacks faced by refugees. Anderson even touches on the few news articles that show the addition of the refugees as a struggle saying that these news reports are portraying issues faced by other communities with a large refugee population and that things have actually gone mostly well. This article portrays a different side of reporting not seen in a lot of news articles as this is a collection of first-hand accounts exploring a more anthropological perspective of life as a native and as a refugee in Lewiston, Maine.
Anderson, Cynthia. “Refugees Poured into My State. Here’s How It Changed Me.” The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct. 2019, www.csmonitor.com/USA/2019/1028/Refugees-poured-into-my-state.-Here-s-how-it-changed-me.
Basma Zabn, an English Language Learner from Syria, heads to class. PAT GREENHOUSE / GLOBE STAFF
In the article, ‘Immigrant students learn hard lessons about racism at a historically white high school in Maine’ by Mike Ellen-Rooney and Ashley Okwuosa, we see how rapid demographic changes have increased racial tension in communities. Some immigrant students have recorded their experiences of conflict at one school. Many students of Lewiston did not know how to handle the drastic changes that were happening in their classes with the rush of Somali immigrants moving in. Somali students recount name calling, verbal harassment and arguments, and in some cases physical fights. According to several parents, similar racial incidents captured in videos, including in classroom taunts that have occasionally ended in fights, have become commonplace at Edward Little. Of 14 immigrant students asked, 8 have experienced racism directly, many of them say it has gone unchecked and festered within the nearly 1,000-person student body. Some Somali students describe classmates jeering “build the wall!”, “ban Muslims”, “boom boom” or “Allahu akbar” as they walked through hallways. Administrators and students believe there’s been an increase since the election of Trump two and a half years ago. “Racial discrimination is often worst in those schools that have experienced the most recent and rapid changes in student demographics,” says Emma LeBlanc, a senior researcher at the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine. The racial tension is most acute in cities where historically white schools are becoming less white and more diverse, at Edward Little the number of students of color has grown largely due to immigrants from Somalia, Iraq, and other countries. Still, students of color only make up 14% of the student body.
Elsen-Rooney, Mike, and Ashley Okwuosa. “Immigrant Students Learn Hard Lessons about Racism at a Historically White High School in Maine – The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, The Boston Globe, 14 Aug. 2019, www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2019/08/14/immigrant-students-learn-hard-lessons-about-racism-historically-white-high-school-maine/FdnY3NDbw2OoTF8sT5SGtL/story.html.
Safiya Khalid as she goes door-to-door, campaigning for city council.
The Washington Post’s article titled “Racist Trolls Targeted a Somali Refugee’s Campaign. She Still Managed to Pull Off a Historic Victory” by Antonia Noori Farzan reminds readers that the struggles faced by Somali refugees are still relevant and current. Published in 2019, Farzan writes about some of the victories for Muslim women in the political sector. She focuses on Safiya Khalid, a 23-year-old woman who came to Lewiston, Maine with her family from Somalia, for most of her article. Farzan writes about some of the struggles which Khalid faced growing up. Then she writes about the online criticism, racism, hate, and threats that Khalid received during her campaign. People from all across the states wrote racist comments about Khalid, telling her she should leave the country and other worse, more graphic messages. One person went as far as to release her address to the public. Khalid chose to remove herself from the online realm and focus on face to face interactions to further her campaign. She won her position in office, becoming the youngest city council members the city has seen. Khalid cites her nearly 70% win as being out in the streets, talking to people.
-Clara Hinklin
Farzan, Antonia. “Racist Trolls Targeted a Somali Refugee’s Campaign. She Still Managed to Pull off a Historic Victory.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 6 Nov. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/06/safiya-khalid-lewiston-maine-city-council-somali-refugee/.