1.3.1 Clarkston as a site for refugee language socialization
Clarkston, its residents, and the various agencies that aim to serve the needs of newcomer refugees are struggling to accommodate the newcomer refugee population. The city was
highlighted as a case study in a report given to the members of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the United States Senate, entitled “Abandoned Upon Arrival: Implications for Refugees and Local Communities Burdened by a U.S. Resettlement System that is not Working” (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010). Clarkston was characterized as a place of tumult laden with stories of prejudice against refugees from residents and city police (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010). According to the report, the actions and discourse of the general Clarkston population do not convey a welcoming, understanding community.
The attitudes among the Clarkston community are in part due to the reality of resettlement and the time period in which refugees are allotted to integrate into the community. After three months resettlement agencies no longer serve their refugee clients. Many of these new residents have not fully integrated and their tribulations are left up to them to solve along with assistance
refugee residents experience problems with housing and often cause apartment fires, one time leading to the tragic death of four refugee youth in 2008 (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010). Navigating housing is not the only problem; refugees also have difficulties accessing and understanding legal and educational systems and programming (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010). In order to resolve such issues the community is left to create and implement educational programming that promotes social and cultural adjustment including English language learning and socialization. These circumstances produce national and local discourses that lead residents to believe refugees "burden" local
governments, schools, police, hospitals, and social services (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010). Especially relevant to the present study is that in Clarkston "resources for language instruction are inadequate. Unlike migrants in search of economic opportunities, who can access extensive friend and family networks to navigate language or other cultural barriers, new refugee populations lack this type of community resource upon arrival.” (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010, p.2) and "efforts to address the special needs of refugee students are ad hoc, adding strain on local education funding" (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010, p.2). A primary factor contributing to unfit
resources is that "each refugee is initially afforded one-size-fits-all assistance" (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010, p.3). The community was not ready for a vulnerable population of refugees, without a network of social, cultural, and linguistic support, and had to create a few programs without any resources to rely on.
In order to lessen the burden on communities like Clarkston there is a call to work with state and local leaders to deepen understanding about backgrounds and quantities of refugees to be resettled using both qualitative and quantitative input from local communities (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010). This understanding would help implement programs that increase access to English as a Second Language (ESL) courses and eliminate the one-size-fits-all approach to refugee
accountability and promote community engagement (S. Rep. No. 111-52, 2010, p.4). This study offers insight into context specific knowledge that can challenge existing methods of language socialization and strengthen program models.
1.3.2 Public perception of refugees and Somalis
Another major motive of this research project is to contest the negative and subtractive discourses about refugees, and Somalis, in particular, which are spread by local and national media. Assuming discourse is a social practice, media portrayals as discursive practices have ideological effects based on the representation and positioning of people (Fairclough, 2003) These negative ideas that persist throughout society have an effect on the daily lives of refugees (Horst, 2006). Language socialization is a complex process in part affected by the way the community perceives those to be socialized (Schiefflin & Ochs, 1986). In Clarkston, refugees face misperceptions held by the local community and are also subject to the media discourses that are propagated about refugees and more specifically Somalis. Often times Somali refugees are presented as cunning crooks or vulnerable victims (Horst, 2006) and portrayed in the media as warlords and pirates. Such portrayals reproduce discourses and contribute to social realities (Van Dijk, 2005). In the small community of Clarkston, Somali refugees are subject to mass mediated and local discourses. In addition to the media and discourses surrounding Somalis, local residents are influenced by discourses that are anti-refugee or that portray refugees as draining local resources. Such discourses inhibit the language socialization and integration into the local community.
Looking to movie, television, print, and musical discourses surrounding Somalis, then, is useful because they represent technologically and institutionally based mass produced and distributed discourses (Gerbner, 1972). Take the critically acclaimed movie, Blackhawk Down
(Bruckheimer; Scott, 2001)as an example. This film misrepresents Somalis and has been criticized for doing so. Mitchell (2001) wrote
In "Black Hawk Down," the lack of characterization converts the Somalis into a pack of snarling dark-skinned beasts, gleefully pulling the Americans from their downed aircraft and stripping them. Intended or not, it reeks of glumly staged racism. (p. 1)
Ethnographically speaking, whenever I meet people unfamiliar with the large refugee populations near to Atlanta and tell them about the community I work with, I am often met with “Oh, you work with pirates?” This is not surprising though, as the Somali pirate is a commonly reoccurring character in media discourse. Figure 1.3.2.1 shows an image of the Staten Island Ferry, with New York City’s Statue of Liberty in the background, encountering Somali pirates with a comment from someone on board stating the “Somali pirates are officially out of control”.
Figure 1.1.3.2.1 Somali Pirate Cartoon (Breen, 2008)
I found another example of the mainstream association of Somalis to pirates in a newspaper crossword puzzle. Figure 1.3.2.2 shows crossword item 63 which asks the reader for a word that describes many modern day pirates. Figure 1.3 shows that the appropriate answer was ‘Somali’. This puzzle is representative a mainstream discourse that portrays Somalis as pirates.
Figure 1.3.2.2. Crossword puzzle item, '63', Creative Loafing, Atlanta, 2013
Figure 1.2.2.3. Crossword puzzle answer 'Somali', Creative Loafing, Atlanta, 2013
The animated series South Park provides yet another example of the discursive
representation of Somalis as pirates. In the episode “Fatbeard”, one of the characters Eric decides he is destined to be a pirate, and promises his friends if they join him in his travels to Somalia they will reap the benefits. Eric and his entourage go to Somalia to meet Somali pirates (Parker & Stone, 2009). The most recent media portrayal of Somalis as pirates was the feature film, Captain
K’naan, a Toronto-based Somali musician, uses music to discuss the plight and reality of the Somali people and such discourses. K’naan’s career began when he performed a spoken word piece criticizing the UN for its failed attempts to help in Somalia in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (Takiff, 2010). In his song, “Blues for the Horn” he acknowledges the way media creates a certain image of Somalis as warlike:
In a conservative form I wanna ask you a few things before I conform To the popular belief about where I was born
Are they still illin', still killin' poppin' the corn?
How's the horn, how's the love wavin' the ocean morn'? How 'bout the young, do they still possess the poetry tongue? And do they still greet sincere like the depth of the lung" How's the nomad, did the herd graze well this year?
From the news to what I know, the growin' gap ain't clear! (K’naan, 2005).
His lyrics reflect his disapproval of the discourses of Somalis and the gap in knowledge between this discursive ideology and the realities of Somalis’ practices. K’naan indicates that popular belief is that Somalis are violent. He then questions if the oral tradition of spoken word and poetry is still alive and traditions like those of nomads are still occurring. He expresses that he would think so, though living in the United States it would seem there is a gap between his knowledge and the portrayal of Somalis in the news.
These “standardized discursive and representational forms” of Somalis as “cunning crooks” create a sustained image of refugees (Horst, 2006). Refugees are also often portrayed as
“vulnerable victims” (Horst, 2006) depicted by images of masses of people, vulnerable women and children, and a rudimentary humanity. These media representations “both influence and are part of the policies and politics that determine the lives of refugees” (Horst, 2006, p. 14).