Could Somalis swing to GOP: In the Twin Cities, a shifting Somali alliance

By Omar Jamal

                                                       Abdimalik Askar rising star in the GOP

Though the intriguing trend in the Somali community toward an advocacy for Republican and conservative ideas and a defection from the DFL camp is worrisome to some, it is not surprising.

During the recent election the DFL undertook to bus Somali immigrants to polling station, employing rhetoric that the party would fight for them against the Republican push to cut benefits. But this claim simply doesn't work anymore. The DFL gospel that accuses the Republicans of being elitist, snobbish, selfish, obscenely rich and out of touch of our reality is finally now being carefully scrutinized.

In the 1990s, Somalis began to trickle into the Twin Cities, and most of the broader population did not take notice. Since then, the Somali community has grown tremendously, and the Twin Cities now boasts the largest Somali population of any urban area in the country.

Somalis now populate the center of Minneapolis, the Cedar Riverside area and beyond into suburbs and small towns throughout the state. They have slowly developed social networks, odd jobs here and there with very limited language capability. More Somali children are enrolled in elementary and high schools, and Somali business centers went up first mostly in Minneapolis, later spreading to other areas.

Having lived through years of strife and civil war, life once again has started to blossom, with the exception that the Somali community is now politically schizophrenic. The lives of immigrants in general, particularly Somalis, are not in line with DFL political views. Somalis are generally conservative in aspects of social issues and yet are tied to the DFL by the simple notion that Republican are out there to take away their rights and means of living. This polemic disarmed the community and reduced them to a voting bloc for the DFL. But this kind of discourse, advocating for perpetual government dependence and handouts without any tacit instruction of how to move away from this situation, is perplexing.

The paternalistic attitude of DFLers toward the Somali community -- as a voting bloc rather than as individuals who bring something to the table -- is harmful. Graduation rates of immigrants in Minneapolis high schools are deplorable, and city taxation and business regulations are stifling entrepreneurial spirit.

Furthermore, the recent 300-page report by Advocates for Human Rights, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit, disclosed the worst racial disparities in health, education and other sectors of public services to immigrant populations living in Minnesota. The grueling question is, who is behind all these failed policies?

The Somali community is going through transformative ideological shifts and is edging into the electoral system. Having unseated senior city council member Robert Lilligren by a wide margin, it is now engaged in political combat with another senior legislator, longtime DFL Rep. Phyllis Kahn of Minneapolis, District 60B.

The debate about political affiliation now rages inside the coffee places, living rooms and mosques, and one thing everyone seems to agree is that the DFL thus far is keeping the community isolated in a revolving door of poverty and government dependence.

Omar Jamal of the Twin Cities has long been active on issues relating to Somalia and the Somali-American community.
Ex Speaker & GOP Pres candidate Newt Gingrich working on a novel that centers on the Somali community in Minnesota