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Rebuilding a Life, Redefining the Self—Ethiopian Women Refugees in Denver (Colorado) (2012–2013)

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Rebuilding a Life, Redefining the Self—Ethiopian Women Refugees in Denver (Colorado) (2012–2013) University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 8-1-2014 "I Came to America, Crying": Rebuilding a Life, Redefining the Self—Ethiopian Women Refugees in Denver (Colorado) (2012–2013) Barbara Guglielminotti Valetta University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Guglielminotti Valetta, Barbara, ""I Came to America, Crying": Rebuilding a Life, Redefining the Self—Ethiopian Women Refugees in Denver (Colorado) (2012–2013)" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 252. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/252 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. “I Came to America, Crying:” Rebuilding a Life, Redefining the self. Ethiopian Women Refugees in Denver (Colorado) (2012-2013) A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Social Sciences University of Denver In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Barbara Guglielminotti Valetta August 2014 Dr. Richard Clemmer-Smith ©Copyright by Barbara Guglielminotti Valetta 2014 All Rights Reserved Author: Barbara Guglielminotti Valetta Title: “I Came to America, Crying:” Rebuilding a Life, Redefining the self. Ethiopian Women Refugees in Denver (Colorado) (2012-2013) Advisor: Dr. Richard Clemmer-Smith Degree Date: August 2014 Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges faced by Ethiopian women in the Denver community to reach harmony within their new social and cultural space and to examine what they feel they have lost and gained in their self-identity as a result of their immigration. Refugees face a multitude of dilemmas when they are compelled to relocate from their home countries to a new, foreign-host society. Ethiopian refugees have been arriving in the US since the 1970s and feel the uprootedness of being away from their homeland. Being uprooted is losing one’s culture and ways of life. Therefore, for these refugees to integrate into an unknown social space is highly challenging, as they have to relearn how to live their quotidian life in a new cultural and social context. Relocation requires an active negotiation of situations and behaviors; therefore, it is paramount to understand the refugees’ agency in the processes of integration and in rebuilding their lives. By analyzing these processes we can learn about the struggles of negotiating different cultural and social aspects ---that is, those from the culture of origin and those of the receiving communities--in order to successfully rebuild continuities and find a sense of belonging. In this study, I use the terms refugee and migrant interchangeably because the majority of first generation informants arrived as refugees, but after living for decades in the US, many no longer identify as such, but rather as migrants. I examine three main ii aspects of becoming a refugee/migrant: (1) the metamorphosis of the family structure, including the transformation of power relations between husband and wife; (2) the cultural differences between Ethiopians and their receiving community, which often fosters the idea that refugees and migrants represent a cultural and economic threat to the nation; and (3) the construction of the category of refugee/migrant, which provokes a loss of identity among these Ethiopian women. I found that Ethiopian women refugees/migrants assert their authority through traditional gender roles rather than through western-centric worldview of success. Ethiopian women refugees/migrants’ agency permits them to negotiate between the two cultures, enabling them to choose features from both cultures that bestow upon them power, and actively engage them in decision making in the household and in the community. This study results from fieldwork conducted from June 2012 until December 2013 among Denver Ethiopians who have constructed social spaces of belonging around perceived traditional family and religious values, and who congregate at the Tewahedo Kidane Meheret, Kidane-Mehret and Medhane-Alem Curches, and the now closed Ethiopian Community Center. This thesis contributes to the general body of literature on migration and fills a lacuna on anthropological research concerning Ethiopian refugees/migrants in the United States. iii Acknowledgements This thesis could not have come to fruition without the cooperation and support of a number of people, and least of all the Ethiopian Community in Denver. I benefited enormously from the guidance and advice of professors and friends to whom I am very grateful. I like to thank Dr. Lawrence Conyers, director and advisor of the Graduate Students Program, who promptly corrected my academic direction. I am indebted to my advisor, Dr. Richard Clemmer Smith, for his guidance and advice were invaluable throughout the research process, and the writing. I am grateful for his patience and understanding. I benefited enormously from his guidance, his broad academic knowledge, and his intellectual stimulation. Without his directions I would not have reached this stage of my thesis. I like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Dores Cruz, who, from start to finish, has offered marvelous assistance, encouragement, stimulated my thinking process, and enriched me in African cultures. Ermitte Saint Jacques generously shared her experience and time, and guided me in redefining my research study. Lastly, but most importantly, I am indebted to the Ethiopian community, to all the women and men who graciously participated in my research study, giving freely of their precious time, warmth, and hospitality. My deepest gratitude goes to the women, whose stories provided the foundation for the writing of my thesis. Without their support, this thesis would not have been possible. My most heartfelt gratitude goes to my husband, Michael, and our beautiful boys, Giacomo and Pietro. I could not have done it without their support, and without seeing their smiling faces every day. Thank you! iv Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................... ix Photo Essay by Barbara Guglielminotti Valetta ............................................................ 1 A Poem by Lena Bezawork Grönlund ............................................................................ 5 Spread and Illuminated ................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Background ............................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Contextualized traditional power ............................................................................ 13 1.4 Resistance to Patriarchal Oppression Power and Merits located outside traditional beliefs ............................................................................................................................ 14 1.5 Examples of Mimicry and Hybrid Identities .......................................................... 15 1.6 Ethiopian Women’s Success versus Ethiopian Men’s Decline .............................. 19 1.7 Study Development ................................................................................................. 21 1.8 Introduction to the problem .................................................................................... 23 1.9 The Refugee-Immigrant Construct ......................................................................... 25 1.10 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................. 27 1.11 Study Participants ................................................................................................. 27 1.12 The Ethiopian Orthodox Church ........................................................................... 29 1.13 Factors Affecting Refugees/Migrants Success ..................................................... 31 1.14 The Collectivism of Women ................................................................................. 37 1.15 Identity Dilemma - Identity as a Construct ........................................................... 40 1.16 Organization of the Study ..................................................................................... 43 Chapter 2 Theoretical Development ............................................................................. 46 2.1 Explanation of Terms Used .................................................................................... 46 2.2 Acculturation Theories ............................................................................................ 51 2.3 Acculturation Theory Brief histories and Definitions of Past Theories ................
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