During the recent fire escapade at Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, many flights were tardy. My
flight was to depart Entebbe International Airport-Uganda, in the
afternoon but it left sometime after 8pm. As time went by, people came
out of their cocoons and started conversing; sharing encounters of
similar nature from past travels; agonising about their children;
lamenting about the many hours they have been travelling and how tired
they were.
It was during this 'bonding time' with fellow travellers, that I
found myself seated in a café with other Kenyans also marooned at
Entebbe waiting for Kenya Airways. As we analysed the events that were
unfolding back in Kenya, my new friends occasionally switched to the
Somali language to stress some things amongst themselves. It was nothing
new to me and I never felt excluded since we come from a multi-lingual
country and such instances are pretty common. So calling them a rarity
would be a misnomer.
A couple seated at a table next to us-albeit thinking that they were
whispering to each other and we couldn't hear them said in a
conspiratorial tone,
'They are probably al-Shabaab plotting something.' My new friends
heard them too but it did not affect them and they did not care.
'I stopped being angry along time ago. I realised that it was a waste
of time. People like that are ignorant. You just leave them to sleep in
their ignorance. If I am to defend Somalis' every time I hear that-it
will be 20 times a day. I have better things to do.'
Maybe he was right. Silence is golden as it is said but at the same
time if we let such whispers go unchecked then something is wrong.
People need to be aware of the proclamations they make and see the
possible brunt or consequence it has on others.
I was livid. I wanted to say something to the couple whose cappuccino
had just arrived and were sipping away giggling and not bothered at
all. Probably calling someone else seated nearby Al-Qaeda. I seethed and
ground my teeth in frustration. Then I examined my reflection on my
phone and realised that I didn't look any different from my new found
friends who are from the Somali community in Kenya. The statement was
meant for all of us seated there.
The entire episode reminded me of the attacks
on Somalis that have been taking place in Johannesburg and Cape Town
recently and also sometime in 2006. Stereotyping in relation to
religion, race and identity is rising and becoming a big challenge in
many countries.
Kenya like South Africa hosts huge numbers of refugees. South Africa
has its refugee burden from Zimbabwe, DRC and Somalia among others while
Kenya has its share from South Sudan, Sudan, and Somalia among others.
According to UNHCR 2012 Refugee Statistics, Kenya is the fourth largest
host of refugees in the world at 564,900 after Pakistan, Iran and
Germany.
Let us remember that not everyone speaking the Somali language in
Kenya or anywhere in the world is al-Shabaab or Somali. Not everyone
from the Somali community in Kenya or elsewhere is al-Shabaab.
According to The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation
(ICSR), more than 40 Americans and a large number of Europeans are
already fighting for al-Shabaab. ICSR goes on to say that;
'To date, no other Al-Qaeda franchise has seen as high a level of Western recruitment than al-Shabaab.'
Now, are we to speak sotto voce calling the Americans and Europeans
al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda just because some of them have become
radicalised? We can not condemn an entire nation just because of a few.
According to Ethnologue-Languges of the World (it is a comprehensive
reference work cataloguing all of the world's known living languages)
there are 16,559,722 speakers of the Somali language today. It goes
further to cite other countries in the world where the language is
spoken.
'Widespread. Also in Canada, Denmark, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Finland,
Italy, Kenya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom, Yemen.'
I highly doubt that the more than 16 million people spread all over
the world are al-Shabaab. Stereotyping is something that we need to be
careful about. An article titled Lingering Effects: Stereotype Threat
Hurts More than You Think by Michael Inzlicht, Alexa M. Tullett, and
Lisa Legault in the Social Issues and Policy Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2011
sheds more light on the matter;
'When negative stereotypes are widely known, anything a person says
or does that is consistent with the stereotype lends credence to the
stereotype as a self-characterisation.
This threat of confirming negative stereotypes introduces extra-task
concerns, which distract from performance and can ultimately result in
stereotype confirmation.'
They further write that;
'Stereotype threat has lingering effects, hurting people targeted by
negative stereotypes and social identities in a broad range of domains.'
All of us have stereotypes but it is crucial for us to be aware and
understand them so that we do not end up hurting people as Inzlicht,
Tullett and Legault write in their article. By understanding them, we
avoid being prejudiced against others or passing judgment.
The writer is Peace, Conflict and Democratic Governance Specialist based in East Africa