I’m curious—do a fiar number of Somalis have a work ethic? I’ve heard that some recent African immigrants actually are following more traditional patterns of assimilation. And are they largely centred in the Twin Cities? Toronoto, Montreal and Vancouver are not like the rest of Canada.
There are more Somalians in Minnesota than anywhere on earth outside of Somalia. While there are many in the Twin Cities, outstate MN has its fair share. St. Cloud, Willmar, Mankato, St. Peter, etc have high numbers. Willmar (West Central MN) has a population around 14,000-it’s the “big city” here and there are about 5,000 Somalians.
Most are not hard working at all. It’s maddening to the people who have to work with them. Jennie-O poultry is a big employer and the long time employees get frustrated at how little they do, how they do not follow the rules and they get special treatment. Any task they don’t want to do, they don’t have to do it.
Driving downtown is insane. They will stop their car in the middle of the street to have a conversation despite that there are 3-5 cars stuck behind them waiting. No respect for the rule of law or the way things are done here. I’m sure there are exceptions, but many don’t think they should have to work at all. An example is one woman who told their case worker how unfair it was that her husband was told to move to 40 hours s week to maintain their free housing. She was livid about it. Six months at 30 hours a week was enough for a lifetime.