Somali 'National Tour Against Hate' Begins Next Week

Kavita Kumar, Star Tribune, Dec. 30, 2002

A Somali advocacy group is branching out beyond the Twin Cities with its "National Tour Against Hate," aimed at raising awareness about the struggles of Somali communities in Seattle and Lewiston, Maine.

Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center of St. Paul, will be leaving Jan. 6 for a journey on which he plans to meet with the new governor of Maine to discuss tensions between some white residents and Somalis in Lewiston, Maine's second largest city.

"There's been an increase of recent hate - not only in Lewiston, but also what is going on in St. Cloud," where racist messages have been written on Somali businesses, Jamal said. "We're going into a new phase because immigrants are being targeted by hate groups."

His first stop will be Seattle, where he will meet with officials and community members to discuss the dozens of detained Somalis, including about 10 from Minnesota, whom the Immigration and Naturalization Service has tried to deport either because they committed felonies, violating their U.S. asylum, or because their asylum applications were turned down. Those efforts have recently been stalled by a Seattle judge's court order, which temporarily bans the INS from deporting anyone to Somalia because it doesn't have a functioning government.

Jamal will then travel to Augusta, Maine, where he says he has a meeting with Maine Gov. elect John Baldacci.

"We're mainly going to talk about the concerns and hate activities in that state against Somali immigrants," he said.

More than a thousand Somalis have moved to Lewiston, a city of 36,000, in the last two years. In October, Lewiston Mayor Larry Raymond wrote an open letter asking Somalis to discourage friends and relatives from moving there so the city's resources wouldn't be strained.

That letter sparked protest - and hate crimes against Somalis, Jamal said. So a Somali leader in Lewiston who read about the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in a newspaper article contacted Jamal for help.

Since then, Jamal said he has spoken to some Lewiston officials about the situation. He said he plans to ask the new governor to help protect Somalis from hate crimes. He will hold a news conference in Lewiston to plea for understanding and tolerance.

The next day, the white supremacist group, World Church of the Creator, plans to hold a meeting in Lewiston. According to the group's Web site, the Rev. Matt Hale will discuss the topic: "The Invasion of Maine by Somalis and How We Can End It."

At a Sunday morning service at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in south Minneapolis, Jamal talked about his upcoming trip. The congregation took up a collection for him, and one man donated five roundtrip plane tickets that will cover most of his travel.

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