If you want to know why there are so many Somalis in Minnesota, maybe you should ask a Somali. It appears the basic answer is that a large number of Somalis were brought in during the 1990’s to work at chicken factories in Faribault and Marshall. In addition to that, the Lutheran Social Service brought in a group of Somalis in the early 1990’s. Once a community was established, it attracted new immigrants who preferred to be around people from their home country. I guess that they don’t mind the cold and find Minnesotans to be a friendly and tolerant lot. That doesn’t surprise me.
In any case, Fox News is outraged that a YMCA in Minneapolis has developed a swimming program for Somali girls that takes account of the social conservatism of Somali society. So, for example, they only use female lifeguards and they keep the door to the boy’s locker room locked during the lessons. For Fox News host Heather Nauert, this indicates that “the minority is becoming the majority” and that “Sharia Law is now changing everything.”
I am a secular progressive Democrat, so I don’t exactly sympathize with the Somali emphasis on female modesty, but the truth is that I don’t really care and I’m more interested in the benefit these girls will get from learning how to swim. Obviously, female modesty is a theme in Islam, and that influences how Somalis feel about women being seen by men while wearing a bathing suit. But to call this Sharia Law is sub-mental. How women dress is Islamic countries varies widely. It’s also offensive to fear-monger to Fox‘s decrepit white audience by suggesting that this modest swimming class is an indication that the “minority is becoming the majority.”
But that is how Fox makes their living, in the service of the Republican Party.
I did not realize until just now, exactly how epic Martin Bashir’s rant against Sarah Palin had been.
I can’t believe he did that.
He’s looking for a job now.
hope he’s offered something good.
I was just seeing that on my twitter feed.
I’m not bemoaning Bashir’s “resignation”. I’ve been giving Bashir slack for some time now. I still didn’t trust him from way back in his tabloid days.
It’s just the idea that it was over something said about Sarah Palin.
Remember when Halperin called Obama a “dick”…he was placed “on hiatus”, but not fired. Hell, look how long it took MSNBC to let Pat BucKKKanan go.
I’m just saying, the message seems to be be careful when you speak at all unfavorably of Sarah Palin or any of the GOP, particularly for the “liberal” news stations.
Bringing it back to your story, it makes me wonder what what is the line that can’t be crossed over at Fox News? I’m beginning to see that the line at the “liberal” news orgs is very close but from outside looking in the Fox News line is very far away.
They do the same thing for the Hasidic women and girls at the pools in Brooklyn. Why does Fox hate Israel?
Right?
Republicans hate it when Muslims treat women like second-class citizens.
Republicans love it when Christians and Jews treat women like second-class citizens.
The difference is clearly SHUT UP because of the specter of SHARIA LAW (anytime you say Sharia Law, it should be immediately followed with spooky ghost-like noises ala Scooby Doo).
Hasids are swimming at the YMCA? WTF?
If it’s a private pool, great–good for them, for being tolerate of peoples’ variously misogynistic cultures. If it’s a public pool, though, fuck the Hasids. Do they want special public busses, too, where women have to dress ‘modestly’?
Municipal pools. It’s an hour or so a few days a week. It’s important to them and doesn’t seem to bother anyone else.
Also in South Dakota. Here’s a link to the Sioux Falls multi-cultural center website
http://www.sfmcc.org/Languages-offered-s/1893.htm
more attention to Prairies States and West [and Brian Schweitzer]
There are plenty of non-Somali women’s swim groups and classes all across this country. I find the controversy sort of amusing.
Somalis are coming to MN for another reason as well – MN is a major refugee resettlement state. The Lutherans probably got this going, as they have a lot of refugee resettlement programs, but nowadays secular organizations exist in the twin cities that do very good work in that area. Immigrants come from many countries in Africa as well as the Karen from Burma and of course we’re now literally the world capitol of Hmong culture.
As this is happening, the exurban white population has gone through various stages of freakout.Katherine Keirsten, the local hate columnist at the Strib, regularly fans whatever incendiary flames she can. This is just another symptom of that mentality.
The other women’s swim groups lock the boys’ room and only hire female lifeguards?
The anti-Shari stuff is bullshit, though, just cover for racism. Well, not ‘cover’ for racism so much as ‘an expression’ of it.
They don’t hire only female lifeguards.
They just don’t use any of the men for this particular class because it would make the girls uncomfortable.
People need to say more about the benefits of diversity and immigrants in general. Immigrants are reviving old cities and towns by bringing new people and business to them. Immigrants like and need cheaper housing and don’t seem to really care about some of the old race-based housing patterns. Immigrants bring their talents and enthusiasm, better food, and have created space for more tolerance in general by forcing America out of the old black/white polarity.
What is it with these people upset about Somali girls having special classes? Not drowning is more important than worrying about customs.
I essentially agree.
I am against this kind of thing because I think social conservatism especially when it’s backed by religion, is a bad thing on its face, but Sharia? Ridiculous.
Yeah pretty much where I am. I don’t want people to feel “obligated” to wear clothes to fit these particular people’s needs, but jesus christ…really? Just a cover for their racism…
It’s kind of a tough line.
For example, women who wear veils in public not because anyone makes them, but because they want to. On the one hand that is individual empowerment, on the other hand wearing veils in public strengthens the hand of people who want to force women wear veils in public so it can lead to less empowerment for the group.
Of course that’s not the issue here at all, but I was merely pointing out a situation where concerns are legitimate.
Every time in the past century when bathing costumes got smaller, they flipped out. Not sure they have yet to get over bikinis and speedos. But as that’s now so old and stale that nobody listens to them, they’ll flip out because a one piece swimsuit isn’t modest enough for some girls/women.
They’re so predictable and boring.
Around this area, it’s about the Hispanic population. It’s actually kind of fun to call people on their outward “discomfort” over it all. It started when products with bi-lingual labels started appearing in stores. Then the big Kroger store opened an entire aisle dedicated to Hispanic foods. Then an Asian section and an Indian section were added. Oh, how they hated it. It’s funny, though; they have had an Italian section for as long as I can remember, and no one ever felt the need to bitch or complain about that. Then bi-lingual signs started appearing in banks, not to mention the BMV.
And some of the banks put up signs saying they had a Spanish speaking person on staff. My dad actually chewed out a bank manager and closed his accounts at a bank because of this development. He only told us this story one time, because my wife drilled him mercilessly about it. Mainly because he did all this within earshot of the Spanish speaking teller. He tucked his tail and shut his mouth.
Now, they are making announcements over the P.A. at the Kroger store in both English and Spanish. I’m waiting for my dad to proclaim that he is going to stop shopping there and take his business elsewhere. Unfortunately, the only other option he has is Walmart. And he would hate going there, because there are more minorities in there than any other place.
Man, it’s getting tough out there. Seems like there’s nary a place left where a bigot can just let their hair down, hoist that freak flag and let her fly!!
What gets me about this is how:
“the minority is becoming the majority”
is such a BIG deal when swimming lessons are at stake in one city.
But the teahadist wing of the GOP holding the will of the majority of the entire nation back?
That’s to be fought for tooth and nail.
Whu..whu..WHAT? Young women NOT flaunting their scantily-clad bodies before the leering eyes of young men? Why it’s un-American and un-Christian, that’s what it is!