Somali influx gets mixed Carolina welcome: Despite plight, Bantu refugees aren't embraced

Boston Globe ^ | July 13, 2003 | Jennifer Graham

[sarcasm]

AYCE, S. C. -- For the Somali Bantu headed for South Carolina, the promised land is an air-conditioned apartment with a green door, gray shutters, and a clothesline out back.

''They'll probably think it's heaven,'' said Viola Hatten, who lives at the Pinewood Apartments, where a two-bedroom unit rents for $395 a month.

[mark502inf]

Most of them have spent a large portion of their lives in refugee camps where everything was given to them. It's not only the American welfare system that is to blame.

Good point--they've just completed a 10 year dependency training program.

The Bantu are quite industrious, they are avid hunters and can subsist on minimal food and water. I envision a group of Bantu spearing a pizza or using a pit fall for the postman. Friday bar-b-ques of the homeless dogs cats and the occasional hobo would add diversity to any neighborhood.

These guys were farmers--however, you're pretty close in one respect--the native Somalis used dogs to help with their herds. When one of the dogs would disappear, they always accused the Bantu of stealing and eating them--which apparently was sometimes true.

And of course, southern Somalia used to be the colony of Italian Somaliland so "spearing a pizza" may not be so far off, either!

[kitkat]

***Why is it that newcomers are entitled to welfare? When my father came to the USA, he and his family needed a sponsor to guarantee that they wouldn't be a burden to the government. ***

How true! In the case I mentioned, the pastor of the church actually did act as sponsor to get the newcomers over here. His intentions were good. But the newcomers ignored his job offers and filed for welfare.

Welfare then turned them over to Workmen's Compensation (which is where my husband worked), and Workmen's Comp. was forced to support them. My husband was furious.

Perhaps a little known fact about Workmen's Comp is that the validity of the claim is subordinate to how much money is available at any time. In other words, if your claim is legitimate and the amount of the money set aside for THAT MONTH is already allocated, you are out of luck.

So the people from a European country went to the head of the list, thus depriving workers here of their compensation. My husband's job was to see that the money was paid out; he had no say about WHO got it. He hated his job.

Often religious sects want to do good, and actually believe they're helping people. But the foreignors admitted to this country with the sect's help know more about how OUR SYSTEM WORKS than the religious pastors do. The pastor in the case I mentioned said he'd never make the same mistake again.

[Between the Lines]

I believe that they are 100% Moslem.

Ancestors of the Bantu in southeast Africa practiced indigenous ceremonies and beliefs prior to their abduction into slavery. Since Muslims are prohibited from owning Muslim slaves, some Bantu freed themselves from slavery by converting to Islam. Over time, many others also converted to Islam. A small number of Bantu who resided in the Dadaab refugee camps recently converted to Christianity. Many Bantu, whether Muslim or Christian, retain animist beliefs, including use of magic, curses, and possession dances.