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Narratives of Somali Bantu Refugees in the United States

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Narratives of Somali Bantu Refugees in the United States Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE June 2015 Negotiating Formal Schooling, Multiple Identities, and Community Advocacy: (Counter)-Narratives of Somali Bantu Refugees in the United States Vivian Fiona Guetler Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Guetler, Vivian Fiona, "Negotiating Formal Schooling, Multiple Identities, and Community Advocacy: (Counter)-Narratives of Somali Bantu Refugees in the United States" (2015). Dissertations - ALL. 291. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/291 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Negotiating Formal Schooling, Multiple Identities, and Community Advocacy: (Counter)-Narratives of the Somali Bantu Refugees in the United States examines the educational experiences of Somali- Bantu refugees resettled in Upstate, New York. It explores how they negotiate their multiple identities - race, gender, class, religion, culture, language, accent, and immigrant status - within the formal school setting and environment. Additionally, it highlights the role of the Somali Bantu community organizations in advocating and implementing resettlement services and academic resources for their people. Using critical race theory as theoretical lens and methodology, a qualitative research was conducted to collect data from nine Somali Bantu participants. The findings suggest that the participants experienced both successes and challenges while negotiating formal schooling. Their multiple identities subjected them to bias and discrimination within the schools and the society. Nonetheless, the community organizations play a significant role in supporting their children’s academic achievement as well as sustaining their cultural values and language. Based on the findings, the study recommends strategies and reforms that are conducive for equity in education, academic achievement, and cultural tolerance for a successful transition and integration of the Somali Bantus and other refugees in the United States. Negotiating Formal Schooling, Multiple Identities, and Community Advocacy: (Counter)-Narratives of the Somali Bantu Refugees in the United States By Vivian Fiona Guetler B.A. Alpen-Adria Klagenfurt University, Austria, 2013 THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Pan African Studies in the Graduate School of Syracuse University Syracuse University June 2015 Copyright © Vivian Fiona Guetler, 2015 All Rights Reserved Dedications This thesis is dedicated to my mother, Rose, without her I would not have been where I am today. Her dedication and hard work as a single parent has inspired and instilled in me the importance of education and self-empowerment. To my siblings, extended family and friends; you inspire me. A heartfelt gratitude to the Somali Bantu community for allowing me to enter into their homes, organizations, lives, and spaces so that I can tell their stories. I dedicate this thesis to all the immigrants who have been displaced and forced to become refugees or asylum seekers in other countries. Despite all the hurdles and bureaucracies of the host country, never give up on achieving your dreams. iv Acknowledgements I would like to sincerely thank my thesis advisor Dr. Zaline Roy-Campbell for the advice and dedicated guidance during the research. Your deep knowledge and expertise on the Somali-Bantu community has been instrumental in researching and writing this thesis which is just a beginning of the research journey. To my thesis committee members: Dr. Rennie Simson, I sincerely appreciate your presence in my thesis committee and your role in my academic journey. I am very grateful. Dr. Herbert Ruffin, thank you for the countless discussions and advice on my thesis. Your contribution, advice and dedication to my research is greatly appreciated. Dr. Amy Lutz, thank you for agreeing to be a part of my academic journey, it is an honor. Dr. Horace Campbell, even though you are not in my committee, your political, historical knowledge and advice was insightful and imperative in this ongoing work of the Somali Bantu community. I am thankful to the Graduate Committee, professors, and staff at the African American Studies Department, Syracuse University. I am honored to have been a part of this intellectual journey amongst great Pan Africanists, activists, scholars, educators and mentors. You all inspire me. I say thank you - Asante Sana. v Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1 SITUATING THE CONTEXT 3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 9 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 10 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 10 DEFINITION OF TERMS 11 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 12 CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTUALIZING RACE, FORCED MIGRATION & EDUCATION 14 A. RACE MATTERS: THEORIZING RACE & EDUCATION 14 RACE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION 17 SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL EDUCATION 22 B. FORCED MIGRATION & MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 30 EDUCATING REFUGEES: CHILDREN WITH LIMITED SCHOOLING 33 EDUCATION AND LINGUICISM: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MATTERS 37 EDUCATION AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES 42 EDUCATING REFUGEE WOMEN: DOING GENDER 47 EDUCATING SOMALI BANTUS 49 LITERATURE REVIEW: CONCLUSION 51 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 53 SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS 53 DATA GENERATION 56 DATA COLLECTION: THE FIELDWORK 59 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 60 DATA ANALYSIS 63 LIMITATIONS 63 CHAPTER 4: VOICES OF THE SOMALI BANTUS 66 THEME ONE: FORMAL SCHOOLING EXPERIENCE 67 CHALLENGES IN EDUCATION: 69 vi ENGLISH LANGUAGE MATTERS 69 GRADE PLACEMENT 76 LABELING MECHANISM – REFUGEE STUDENTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION 80 SUCCESS IN EDUCATION: 87 RESOURCES PROVIDED BY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 87 PARENTAL SUPPORT: ‘PARENTS WANT THEIR KIDS TO BE SUCCESSFUL’ 88 BEATING THE ODDS: HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE EXPERIENCE 90 DISCUSSION: NAVIGATING FORMAL SCHOOLING IN UPSTATE NY 94 THEME TWO: RACE, GENDER, LANGUAGE, RELIGION AND CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS 97 BULLYING 97 BELONGING & IDENTITY 99 ‘ACCOMMODATION WITHOUT ASSIMILATION’ 101 SILENCING THE MINORITY LANGUAGE 102 ISLAMOPHOBIA AND THE HIJAB 104 WOMEN AS BREADWINNERS – INVISIBLE IN EDUCATION, VISIBLE IN DOMESTIC LABOR 108 DISCUSSIONS: NEGOTIATING MULTIPLE IDENTITIES 110 THEME THREE: ROLE OF ETHNIC-BASED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS 112 EDUCATIONAL SERVICES & ADVOCACY 113 INTEGRATION & RESETTLEMENT SERVICES 115 DISCUSSIONS: ADVOCATES OF THEIR PEOPLE 117 CHAPTER 5: CHALLENGING AND ANALYZING INEQUITY IN EDUCATION 120 CRITICAL DISCUSSIONS AND ANALYSIS 120 IMPLICATIONS 127 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 129 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 130 FINAL WORDS 132 REFERENCES 134 APPENDICES 152 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 152 APPENDIX B: INFORMED CONSENT 153 VITA 155 vii List of illustrative Materials TABLE 1: UPSTATE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: ENROLLMENT 2013 - 2014 7 TABLE 2: STUDENTS PROFILE 55 TABLE 3: PARENTS PROFILE 55 TABLE 4: COMMUNITY LEADERS PROFILE 56 viii Chapter 1: Introduction Background of the Study The 1991 civil war in Somalia contributed to mass displacement of the people, forcing them to flee to the refugee camps in Kenya or to other countries (Besteman, 1999; Hollenbach, 2008; Waters, 2008). Arriving from the refugee camps in Kenya, the population referred to as Somali Bantu began resettling within the United States cities from 2003, as part of the resettlement program of 12,000 Somali Bantu implemented by the U.S government. As a result of the U.S Refugee Act of 1980 that opened the borders for refugees and the assistance of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and refugee resettlement agencies, these humanitarian resettlement programs have screened, admitted and resettled thousands of refugees from all nations in the United States (Besteman, 1999; Newman & Selm, 2003; Roberts, 1982; Smith 2012). Education is a human right, as stated by article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations), and as one of Pan Africanism’s tenets, this study explores the educational experiences of the Somali Bantus refugees resettled in Upstate City1, New York. The Somali Bantu group which includes several sub-groups, are descendants of people taken from Southeastern Africa - Mozambique, Malawi, Zanzibar and Tanzania - during the 19th century Indian Ocean slave trade, to work as farmers and plantation workers (Eno & Van Lehman, 2003; Omar Eno & Mohamed Eno, 2007; Lewis, 2002). After slavery ended, they settled in Southern Somali as rural farmers. They were discriminated against by being denied educational and economic opportunities, social and political representation. Despite living in 1 From here henceforth, the name of the city is a pseudonym for confidentialities purposes. 1 Somalia for decades, the Somali Bantus’ history, language, and physical differences has subjected them to oppression as a marginalized minority group (Eno & Van Lehman, 2003). The term Bantu is used to refer to a family of languages spoken in eastern, central and southern Africa (Besteman, 1999; Hollenbach, 2008; Watters, 2008). Somali Bantu originate from the Bantu ethnic and linguistic groups while the ethnic Somalis belong to the Cushite group (Eno & Van Lehman 2003; Stephen, 2002). As a practice of racialization, ethnic Somalis referred to the Bantu as either Gosha (forest people), and as Jareer (rough or kinky hair). Derogatory terms such as Ooji and addoon, which translate as “slave”
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