Friday May 20, 2016
By Josh Rosenthal
Asked what it's like growing up as a Somali-American in Minnesota, 14-year-old Khalid Jama laughed, scratched his head, and wondered, "uh, how do I answer that?"
It's a hard question but an important question, especially now, with the largest Somali-American community in the country in the spotlight, due to the ongoing federal trial in which three young Somali-Americans are accused of terrorism.
As one Somali-American, Sadik Warfa, put it after a town hall meeting held last April, "we are building from the bottom up because we have to write our own story as Somali-Americans."That story is complicated.
"I've always wanted to say my say on this, and I just never had the chance, but this is a great opportunity," 21-year-old Adnan Diriye explained.
Diriye came to America in 2006 at age 11. At the time, he spoke no English. Growing up, he traveled the state with his soccer team, Minnesota Thunder P.L.U.S, often hopping into the team van and leaving city for suburb.
"Imagine 20,30 kids in the van," he remembered. "Had to drop them off all over the Twin Cities, you know? Northeast Minneapolis, South Minneapolis, Eagan, South St. Paul, North St. Paul, East St. Paul, all over the place."
It's how we ended up meeting Diriye at a soccer field in Cottage Grove. Now 21, he moonlights as the same team's assistant coach.
"It's just that, I mean you see out here, these kids are just playing sports. This is an all, I mean this is an everyday American thing," Diriye said. "You don't have to be Somali, or white, or Mexican, this what America is about."
'America' is something that gets talked about a lot in the Somali-American community. American flags hang proudly at town hall meetings and soccer practices. It's also a topic of conversation at places like what many only refer to as "The Somali Mall" in Minneapolis.
"I (was) born in Africa, but I have a business here, I have kids here," said business owner Ahmad Mohamed. "This is my country."
But the fundamental question we asked -- "what's it like growing up as a Somali-American in Minnesota?" -- still wasn't an easy one to answer.
Many said it's especially difficult to put into words in a community that has an ongoing federal terror trial in its backyard.
Minnesota Thunder P.L.U.S. Coach Adam Ugas acknowledged the trial, but said it's not indicative of the community overall and certainly not of his team.
"There's something going on there, yes," Ugas said, "but we have a lot of American citizens in Minnesota who do not associate or, you know, I mean doesn't even know about some of them.""
Diriye agreed. "We're normal just like everybody else," he said. "We have dreams, desires, goals. Some of us want to be doctors, engineers, police officers, soldiers."
Diriye believes the differences that do exist between Somali-Americans and other Minnesotans are, in a way, uniquely American. For example, he said the reason his team didn't have any parents in the stands when it seemed like every parent was in the stands for the other team, he said, "our parents always support us but they're immigrants, they never had any riches or wealth here. They have to work three four shifts just to make ends meet."
Asked that same question -- "what's it like to be a Somali-American in Minnesota?" -- Diriye kept his answer brief.
"Just the same way as any American would grow up," he said. "Hopefully this story goes out there and people can see that not all of us are bad people, we're just trying to get through life day by day."