Posted on 06/15/2008 1:16:22 PM PDT by MplsSteve
Clashes are increasing between Somali Muslims and Minnesota employers. Can the loose-fitting garb be a safety hazard? Is there a difference between a bathroom break and a prayer break?
Fatuma Hassan has just enough rice in her near-empty cupboards to make it through the month. The anger she felt when she lost her job in May has given way to a dull, nagging hunger.
Yet this soft-spoken 22-year-old became an unlikely hero within the Somali community when she and five of her Muslim co-workers were dismissed last month from the Mission Foods tortilla factory in New Brighton for refusing to wear a new company uniform -- a shirt and pants -- they consider a violation of their Islamic beliefs.
"For me, wearing pants is the same as being naked," Hassan said, noting the prophet Mohammed taught that men and women should not dress alike. "My culture, my religious beliefs, are more important than a uniform."
Over the past century, Minnesota has seen waves of immigrants from Germany, Sweden, Norway and Laos, among other nations, and each group managed to move up the ladder of prosperity despite some initial doubts about their ability to integrate.
Yet nearly two decades after a violent civil war brought thousands of Somali refugees to the Twin Cities, their integration in the U.S. workplace is becoming more contentious.
Their insistence on maintaining Muslim traditions, including prayer times and modest clothing, have led to firings at several manufacturers across the state and a sharp increase in religious discrimination complaints.
The well-publicized clashes also have sparked legal and ethical debates on whether efficiency-hungry workplaces are doing enough or defiant workers are accommodating too little.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
They'll never assimilate - but yet want all the benefits of being a citizen here.
They demand special acomodations in their employment and in our schools.
There is a rise in crime caused by Somali youths, particularly in the Cedar-Riverside area.
And as your read the entire article, you get the distinct feeling that they are highly organized and are unwilling to back down in any way, shape or form.
Comments or opinions - anyone?
Pathetic... these savages should be kicked out before they can have anchor babies of their own.
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We dont have this problem to worry about in Maine. There are hardly any Somali-employer clashes. The large Somali population here hardly ever works.
I just sent the author a email telling him I think that they should go home to Somalia.
Mass deportations are the only solution.
Assimilation or deportation. The choice is that simple.
"My culture, my religious beliefs, are more important than a [uniform home in America]."
Good bye! Have a nice trip home.
In fact, many times I've thought it was so strange that Moslem men and women wear the same stuff.
“Comments or opinions - anyone?”
From personal experience, they are the lowest form of just arguably human vermin on the planet.
“Imagine that a person comes coming from that environment is suddenly subjected to all these regulations and rules” in the workplace, he said. “He may think these are an intrusion to the freedom that he had at home.”
Hmmmm! Go home!
Depends on the job but in factories all loose fitting clothing is 100% a safety hazard. Anyone who doesn't like it is welcome to go somewhere else for a job.
Enagaged? I presume engaged to Al Franken and his ilk.
Comments or opinions - anyone? ................ We live in a country with no official language, no official religion, lots of free stuff from the Government., and everyone is equal, so why should this be a surprise? We let the 3rd world in thinking we are being helpful and all we are doing is accelerating the Bosniazation of what was once the U.S.A.. I thank God, that I lived most of my life here during the best years of the 20th Century.
I wonder what Islam says about wives working outside of the home?
They hate the West.
What are they doing here ?””
INFILTRATING—as they have done for the last 30 years.
A Madrassa in Minnesota, at Taxpayers’ Expense
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031190/posts
Muslims are a never-ending source of grievances and claims of victimization. If things are not just as they are dictated in the Koran, then Muslims are being discriminated against.
The employer is fully within his rights to require employees to wear a uniform. Wearing a uniform on the job is not religious discrimination, and Muslims are not entitled to an accommodation. This is ridiculous. These are the same Muslims who claim that they cannot scan bacon if they work at a grocery store check-out, or allow a seeing-eye dog for a blind passenger if they drive a cab, because of Muslims accommodation is entirely a one-way street: accommodate Islam, or else. If these people are not citizens, they need to have their green cards revoked and sent back to Somali.
BS. Food Shelf? Food Stamps? I bet money there are all sorts of Leftist Minneapolis groups who do nothing but "help" these sorts of "refugees" Pathetic attempt at propaganda. And in this state, it will work. Our voters are far too stupid to do anything but show up and pull the lever every election for the same posse of insane Leftist DFLers.
The professor of Islamic law says the poor ignorant immigrants don’t know what they are up against here in this racist country. Yeah right. So why does Pelosi wear a head scarf in the Middle East?
Then the one girl says that her culture is more important than a uniform. What she is really saying is Muhammed is more important than a job - so pay up infidels.
Hmmmm! Go home!
Post of the DAY!
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