Friday, October 07, 2016
By Stephanie Dickrell
Imam Muhumed Ahmed looks at a window damaged in Dec., 2014, at the Central Minnesota Islamic Center at 390 Fourth Avenue South. (Photo: Dave Schwarz)
The story of the Somali population in St. Cloud starts like many other American immigrant tales: They came as refugees from war in their homeland, in search of opportunity.
But since 9/11, Muslims and immigrants around the country, including Somalis, have been under suspicion — as unpatriotic, as terrorists, as outsiders, as dangerous. On Sept. 17, one man seemed to confirm those suspicions when he attacked 10 people in St. Cloud's largest mall before being killed by an off-duty police officer.
Many in the community hoped the perpetrator would be neither Somali nor Muslim. In fact, 20-year-old Dahir Adan was both.
Just hours after the attacks, Somali leaders were quick to show their sympathy for victims and their families. They described the attack as an act of a single individual, not a community. They say the whole community fears misplaced retaliation.
The Somali community had spent a lot of time in St. Cloud proving themselves as neighbors, employees and students. The Somali population started to grow in the early 2000s, where previously there had been only a handful among the St. Cloud metro area's 190,000 residents.
Somali people moved to St. Cloud to work in meat processing and manufacturing plants. Most were secondary refugees, who moved to the area after being settled in other parts of the state or country.
The group arrived in an area where most residents are white and almost 40 percent in a three-county area identify with their German heritage.
According to Minnesota historian Annette Atkins, it was a combination of that heritage and their Catholic religion that made early immigrants to Central Minnesota particularly hostile to outsiders. Those outsiders — Scandinavian and Lutheran protestants — were also particularly hostile to them. Catholics were in the minority in Minnesota and, during the World Wars, Germans were scrutinized as potential traitors or Nazi sympathizers.
St. Cloud has seen other waves of immigrants. In the 1970s, about 1,400 Vietnamese refugees were settled there. There's little trace of that community left in St. Cloud today, as most moved to the more diverse Twin Cities area.
Early Somali arrivals to St. Cloud said the new Somali workers were received fairly well — until 9/11.
After that, their dark skin, foreign language and unfamiliar religion made them objects of suspicion. The 2001 terrorist attack also prompted Somali leaders to form organizations to advocate and educate on behalf of their community.
In fits and starts, Central Minnesota started to adjust over a decade and a half.
Early on, the United Way of Central Minnesota was hosting Islam and Somali education events to overflowing rooms. Stearns County, the largest of the three counties that encompasses much of St. Cloud and its suburbs, adjusted its personnel and budgets to meet new needs.
While parts of the community adjusted, others thought the Somali population was here only temporarily. If they ignored the "problem" for long enough, it would go away.
That didn't happen. The same children who came to St. Cloud as preschoolers entered local colleges. Others graduated with professional degrees and started their own businesses. Somalis are beginning to seek election to school and government positions and some Somali families are starting to move to the suburbs.
St. Cloud now has four mosques. During Ramadan, mosque leaders invite members of the community to experience the breaking of the fast, prayers and the festive meal afterwards.
Today, the population of foreign-born residents is estimated at about 5,800, and about 10,500 in the metro area. But the exact number is difficult to pinpoint, for various reasons and often with large margins of error.
For the past several years, any refugees being resettled here by Lutheran Social Services are part of a family reunification program. The program requires a close family relation in the area, such as a mother or brother. Roughly 200 new refugees are resettled annually in St. Cloud, the majority of which are Somali.
In recent years, a faith leaders group that includes a Catholic bishop, Lutheran pastors and Somali elders has achieved a rapport with one another and has plans to further that mission.
But as anti-immigration rhetoric has taken over the national political narrative, the hostility is also evident in St. Cloud. Anti-refugee or anti-Muslim speakers have made numerous stops in Central Minnesota, often to packed houses.
There have been years of conflicts and advances:
In 2003, freezer manufacturer Electrolux settled a complaint with its St. Cloud workers who said the company failed to accommodate prayer times for its Muslim employees. More than a year before, Electrolux disciplined at least 12 workers for using an "emergency break" for sunset prayers.
In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education investigated claims of discrimination against Somali students in St. Cloud public schools. A report determined Somali students were taunted and teased.
In 2013, the Islamic Center of St. Cloud proposed a plan to build a mosque in a residential area, only to withdraw its application after about 500 people attended a public hearing to voice opposition. Two years later, the Islamic Center opened in a former elementary school instead.
In 2015, Somali students led a protest after a Snapchat photo circulated of a Somali girl in a wheelchair with a caption calling her a terrorist. About one-third of the school's Somali population demonstrated on the school lawn. The protest spurred discussion about the place of Somalis in Central Minnesota.
After the school incident, two residents launched #UniteCloud, a campaign "to resolve tension and restore dignity" in St. Cloud.
In 2015, Stearns County responded to questions from residents concerned about the cost of immigration policies with a new annual report that examines the amount spent on social safety net programs to help low-income residents, including non-English speakers and refugees.
While an anti-Muslim contingent is vocal, there are plenty of people in St. Cloud speaking against them. Meanwhile, St. Cloud leaders including Police Chief Blair Anderson have urged patience and unity as the Crossroads investigation unfolds. During a Fox News interview in late September, Anderson answered a question about fighting terrorism with this:
"We actually work very well not just with our East African community, but all of our community. We meet regularly with any number of people, whether they are advocates for a specific ethnicity or different cause. It’s one of things that makes St. Cloud a wonderful place to live, and I know that might sound corny, but it’s the truth. We have established and maintained a very good rapport with our East African community and our community at large."