Katie Haley

Signature Assignment
Intl. 2060
Signature Assignment

Becoming the Other

I am a 25 year old poor Somali man living in Montana. I was born and raised in the
United States but my grandparents were born in Somalia. I was raised by the Muslim
beliefs but have no religious beliefs now that I live on my own. I speak, Somali, Arabic, and
English, English being the third language I learned. I have a slight accent but its hardly
noticeable. I work full time at a gas station while trying to go to college full time as well, to
eventually receive a law degree.
From the day I realized what racism was I noticed how horribly my family and
friends of Somali decent have been treated. I have many close friends of many different
ethnicities and races that have never even brought up the differences between us. I grew up
sheltered by my families religious beliefs, reciting basic teachings from the Quran daily,
and worshipping Allah.
Sometimes its difficult being the minority in my classes here at MSU. I find it
difficult to find friends here because people tend to judge me by the color of my skin. It
doesnt help that I dont have any affiliation with their religious views. I go to school early
in the morning, and often times dont have time to eat breakfast so I have to buy breakfast
at the school. I dont like doing that because the food at the school is nasty fast-food that I
dont like. I like to stick to my homelands food style, its what I was raised on, and its what

my body is used to. Moving here to the United States was very difficult change for my
family. It was hard to adjust to this culture, and many times, I am confused by the cultural
differences. One of the greatest differences that I have encountered is the language barrier.
My parents taught me Somali, Arabic, and English, but actually speaking it is a
completely different thing. I was taught common phrases and words, and the rules. I was
amazed at how many exceptions to the rules there are in the English language. Learning
the language and speaking it is one thing, but interpreting and understanding others when
they speak it is completely different. It seems to me that most people here at the university
dont even speak correct English themselves. A lot of the people here at MSU are locals that
classify themselves as country folk. The way that they speak is completely different than
the traditional English that I was taught. This brings up another thing, often times at school
I get on the phone to talk to family or friends. When I do this I speak to them in Arabic, my
native language. While doing so, people tend to give me dirty glares, and funny looks. Often
times people say to me, if youre going to be in America than speak English. I would like to
say to them, I do, but I choose to keep to myself.
I work nights at a gas station, mainly because I couldnt find a job anywhere else. I
would like to find a job that is more relevant to my career choice in law, but that is difficult.
I do believe that many times, I do not receive equal treatment because of the color of my
skin. I have applied at many firms being a front desk clerk or mail room attendant, to at
least get my feet in the door and move up from there. I have had many interviews but after
the interviews I dont hear back from any of the firms.
I walk to work because I have the privilege of living close. This is great because Im
able to save money on travel to and from work. I often times see that people go out of their

way to avoid walking near me on the sidewalk at night. The other night on my way to work,
I was walking down the sidewalk towards the gas station, and there were two females
walking toward me on the same sidewalk. I wasnt surprised to see them both cross the
road before passing me and continue their journey on the other side of the road. This isnt
the first time this has happened either. Once I get to work I notice how people react to me
when I am ringing up their purchases, they seem quiet and a bit scared. When people to
acknowledge me its usually with rude snide remarks toward my skin color, or where I
work. But today was different from the usual day at work.

Building A Bridge
One day when I was driving to school I stopped at a gas station. When I went inside
to pay for my gas I noticed another customer being really rude to the cashier. I walked over
to the man and asked if everything was okay. The customer stormed off and all I could do
was apologize for how awful the man was being. The cashier looked at me, smiled, and said
thank you. As he spoke I noticed he had a cool accent.
I started, Wow what a unique accent you have. Where are you from?
He replied, My grandparents are from Somalia, and I speak Arabic and Somali.
Why was that man being so rude to you? I asked.
He referred to me by the N word and said Im incompetent to work, let alone live, in
the United States.
Thats horrible that people have to be so close minded and rude to people who are
different from them! Im sorry you have to deal with people like that.
Its okay Im used to it. Replied the man in an embarrassed voice.

You shouldnt have had to get used to it, people need to view everyone as equal no
matter what their skin color is or how they dress. I sad. Anyways my name is Katie,
whats yours?
Nice to meet you Katie, my name is Ashkir.
We continued talking for a long time while Ashkir worked, about everything. We
talked about our childhoods and how different it was growing up for each of us. He was
open about talking about the racism he has had to face in Montana and how it has impacted
his life. I didnt know what to say to him because we have come from such different
backgrounds.
He apologized for venting to me because he knew I didnt know what to say.
Youre right, and Im sorry I cant relate very well. Im in no position to give you
advice about the prejudices you face, because we come from such different backgrounds,
its hard for us to relate to each other. Can I tell you about this piece of writing that might
help you to have optimism on your path to becoming a lawyer? I asked.
Of course, Id enjoy that!
The piece is called, The Trouble Were In by Allan G. Johnson, a writer from the
US. It talks about how if people dont start to accept changes in people and their heritage or
ethnicity than we are going to be stuck as a society, never moving forward. I believe that
people will one day realize that we need differences in people in order to continue to
innovate and move forward in the world.
Yes thats very true I will have to read that piece, do you know of any other
motivational poems or articles that I would find beneficial? Asked Ashkir

Yeah, I know of a short work titled, Protestant Evangelism and the Italian
Immigrant Woman, by Maxine Seller from the USA. Its about Italian immigrants who were
forced to assimilate and how Evangelist women would come into Italian womens homes
and tell them how to cook, clean, and raise their children, and what they were doing wasnt
the right way. The evangelists told the Italians that they needed to attend church and send
their children to Sunday school. The Italian people felt trapped and resented Americans
because of how they were treated. Another piece that is similar to this one is a poem titled,
The Black Bear on My Neighbors Lawn, by Maria Mazziotti from the USA. I think you
could relate to her piece because she is an Italian American who grew up being judged by
us like you are now. The poem is about an Italian girl who walks past her neighbors lawn
and realizes that the fake bear in their lawn is really weird. She thinks about what people
from the future are going to think when they are digging up this town and find a fake bear
sitting in the lawn. Its a good piece to relate to because it is saying that we all have
differences and this Italian girl is picking out the odd characteristics of Americans. Asking
the question of why cant Italians judge Americans when we judge them so harshly? I said.
Wow, I never looked at it like that. Thank you. These are great pieces that make it
much easier to relate to, I never would have thought that I would be relating to a blonde
white girl, no offense. Exclaimed Ashkir.
None taken, Im glad I could help, I have many more pieces I could share with you! I
can tell you a couple more titles but then I better go, Ive been her for hours! I Laughed.
Yes, Id appreciate a couple more titles!
Okay, one poem is called The Singing Flower, by Shu Ting from China. This poet
was considered a misty poet, meaning she wrote about the times during the Cultural

Revolution, but wrote her poems with a hidden meaning. This particular piece is about how
she wrote to people who wanted to fight back but didnt know how. She wrote about how
they needed to stand up and fight even though millions of people will die, because that was
the only way anything would change. Im sharing this piece with you because I think that
that is what other ethnicities need to do, stand up to Americans and show us that you are
proud of where you come from and that we cant break your pride. Another piece that I like
very much is titled, Mestizo by Francisco X Alarcon, from the USA. I like this poem
because it says that this person is from so many different backgrounds and you cant define
him by just the one. People need to realize that many characteristics make up a person, not
just one characteristic. Like you were telling me earlier, you hate that people look at you
and cross the street just because of your skin color, well that is what this poet is trying to
explain. People should quit judging a book by their cover. I think people need to all stand
up for themselves and spread the word that they arent going to back down from their
identities and they need to be proud of who they are.
Youre very right! I need to be proud of who I am, and try to reach out to people and
show them who I am, not what I am! Exclaimed Ashkir
Yes exactly! Well I need to go, but we should get coffee together sometime and talk
some more! Would you want to do that? I Asked.
Id really like that, Ill call you. Can I get your phone number?
Yep, its (801) 458-9832. Ill bring some more literature that I think youll enjoy! In
the mean time you should look up the poem Identity Card by Mahmoud Darwish, from
Palestine. Youd really like it! See you soon! I Shouted.
Okay Ill definitely look it up, see you later! yelled Ashkir.