The New York Times ran a story Sunday detailing the lives of refugee boys as they attempt to continue playing a sport they love and to assimilate into the Georgia community into which they have been placed.
The article, “Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on the Soccer Field,” tells the story of these boy refugees from a variety of conflict-stricken countries, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burundi, Congo, Gambia, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia and Sudan.
The article is much too lengthy to describe in any adequate detail on this page, but it suffices to understand some members inside the community responded positively the refugees – in one instance a rival team donated cleats, balls and jerseys to the Fugees, a team composed mostly of young refugees. Others’ responses have been negative, as the article says, with “some town residents, opposing players and even the parents of those players, at their worst hurling racial epithets and making it clear they resent the mostly African team.”
Interaction between different cultures always provides opportunities for cooperation and conflict. Aspects of people’s lives change when groups of people suddenly move into an area where another people’s culture and way of life has existed. The change is often tangible and sometimes resented. These feelings do not necessarily require racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious or other differences as a cause, but these differences can certainly contribute to conflict. At The Lantern, though, the conflict is not what concerns us. We are concerned with how people handle conflict when it arises.
Do we stop to reflect on the conflict and our feelings as we attempt to identify the real sources of our frustration? Or do we allow it to control us by trying to justify why our feelings are the right ones? Do we own it, or does it own us?
We empathize with the struggles of people from a variety of backgrounds to suddenly assimilate into a country and culture vastly different from their own. We empathize with those who must assimilate into their own community outsiders who do not share the customs and culture in which they were raised.
The Lantern believes in the ability for people to relate their own needs, feelings and pressures to those which others experience. Columbus is home to a substantial Somali population and as such we should reflect on the interaction between the community that was introduced and the community to which another was introduced. Columbus is home to individuals from many cultures, backgrounds and experiences, and as a community we should strive to reach out to understand and grow closer to each other.
