Greely Tribune
Sunday, November 11, 2012
by Analisa Romano
JOSHUA POLSON/[email protected] Asad Abdi, board president of the Global Refugee Cente,r joins in the Pledge of Allegiance during a citizenship class Wednesday morning at the Global Refugee Center in Greeley. With the recent election, refugees enrolled in the class had a unique opportunity to view and learn about the American Political process.
Ever since he left Somalia at 2 years old, Khalid Mohamed had never lived in a country where he belonged as a citizen.
Mohamed, 22, moved to Kenya at 2 years old and to Greeley at 18.
But as of May, Mohamed is an American. On Tuesday, he stood in a long line at the University of Northern Colorado to vote for the first time in his life.
“It was great,” Mohamed said of his first voting experience, which included an “I voted” sticker proudly displayed on his shirt for the rest of the day. The UNC senior said he voted for the Libertarian candidate — Gary Johnson — for president.
“I know people are like, you are just throwing away your vote,” Mohamed said. “But I am like, that’s democracy. I can vote for whoever I want.”
Many in the U.S. may remember Tuesday’s presidential election as a divisive, bitter contest that seemed to drag on forever. Even in the aftermath of the election, winning and losing campaigns have wallowed over scorched earth.
But for Mohamed, like many in Greeley’s small population of immigrants and refugees, the elections were a far cry from the corruption and political violence they experienced in their home countries.
In Somalia, September marked the first time the country had any kind of election in two decades.
“Even though it would sometimes get ugly, people would not take it to the streets, you know,” Mohamed said of the U.S. election. “You have a conversation with your friend, and it’s over. No one is forcing you to make your choice. It’s your own choice.”
Many of Greeley’s immigrants and refugees echoed Mohamed’s comments. Those who couldn’t vote still relished the opportunity to speak openly about their thoughts.
Paul Slayton, a citizenship teacher at the Greeley Refugee Center, said his students often laugh about what they can do here that they couldn’t in their home countries — Somalia, Burundi, Tanzania and Mexico — such as cast anonymous ballots and speak freely about the candidates.
Slayton held a mock election on Tuesday for his students, who are not yet U.S. citizens.
Out of 12 ballots, 11 votes were cast for President Barack Obama, and one student voted for Mitt Romney.
In class on Thursday, they discussed their choices.
Bortoldo Rodriguez, 44, of Mexico, said he liked Romney as a candidate. Obama had allowed too much spending — something that maybe Romney could have stopped, Rodriguez said.
Malyun Awale, 24, of Somalia, said she supported Obama because she felt he would help more people. For example, he wants everyone in the nation to have access to health insurance, she said.
“America is all same, is equal,” Awale said. She said she felt Romney represented that ideal less because he supported wealthy citizens.
Rodriguez said he disagreed, and apologized to those in the room who supported Obama. His classmates shook their heads and smiled.
“That is your choice,” Awale said.
‘PSEUDO ELECTIONS’
In Nigeria, it’s a different story, said Ibrahim Danladi, a 22-year-old student of international affairs at UNC.
Danladi said in an email that his country holds “pseudo elections.”
“The last time me and my family went to vote, the voting center was empty and we asked the military what is going on. This is what they told us: ‘We voted for you people already,’ ” Danladi said. “Things in the U.S. isn’t perfect, like I don’t like the idea of having only two major parties. In a true democracy, there should be multiple parties like in Germany.”
But definitely, things here are better, he said.
Zamzam Abdulahi, 24, of Ethiopia, became a citizen of the United States in April.
In her home country, she said there is often violence surrounding the elections.
“I like to vote for the president,” said Abdulahi, who was still smiling from her accomplishment days after the election. “It was really easy.”
Abdulahi, who took citizenship classes at Right to Read Weld County, said she voted for Obama because he seems to speak to all Americans, he has four years of experience and he would be the better leader for immigrants and refugees.
Danladi said he preferred Obama as a candidate because Romney’s campaign changed so much from the primaries and because his foreign policy seemed to resemble that of President George W. Bush’s.
“Obama is a passive politician. He has a heart for America but he lets Congress get into his way,” Danladi said. “They are all liars but he is more honest than Romney and he has a heart for the underprivileged.”
Danladi also said he “loved the ads.”
“The ads where crucial because they revealed the weaknesses of the candidates and also informed the public of what the candidates were doing before the campaign started,” he said.
Ragea Alqahtani, 33, a UNC exchange student from Saudi Arabia, said he didn’t get sick of the political ads, either.
“For anyone from the Middle East, it’s really a hot place of politics,” Alqahtani said. “And anyone from those countries, he will care about political issues.”
Alqahtani said if he were a citizen, he would have voted for Obama.
“Romney had a good project when talking about creating 7 million jobs, but I think he did not link to Americans’ minds like Obama,” he said. “Romney, if he won, he would do just as well. I believe anyone who would lead, would lead his nation to be the best.”
Voting as one
Slayton said he wasn’t sure what influenced his students to vote one way or another. He said his students are still in the process of learning English, so they may not have caught the nuances in political ads.
In that sense, Obama could have been the class’ popular candidate because his name is easier to pronounce and to remember, Slayton said.
Regardless, the votes of Slayton’s class mirror what political analysts across the nation have attributed to Obama’s victory.
Women, black and Latino votes have created a new majority, they say.
Dongwoo Lee, 23, a UNC exchange student from South Korea, said that was his favorite part of the election.
“I was really impressed by the results,” Lee said. “I saw the real meaning of democracy, because the minority made up their power by becoming one.”
Transitioning to that idea is sometimes tough for Somali students, Slayton said. Somalian men, for example, dominate in their home societies, and at times they dominate classroom dynamics, as well.
When that happens, Slayton said he must remind his class that everyone has a right to make his or her voice heard.
Olivia Garcia, 47, of Mexico, went a step further this election. Garcia, who moved to Greeley from El Paso, Texas, said it was her first time voting in Weld County — an experience that revived her inner political activist.
“This county is very interesting because it is so organized. I like the interest,” Garcia said. She said the political energy in Colorado, largely because it is a swing state, inspired her to volunteer for the Democratic Party, using her Spanish to communicate in mostly Latino neighborhoods.
Garcia said she voted early and rejoiced when her son turned 18 this October, just in time to register to vote in his first election.
Mohamed said when he went to cast his first vote at UNC, he was a little nervous.
His parents and siblings remain in Kenya, where they moved to escape the violence in Somalia. Mohamed said he calls them on the weekends, and he talked to them after he voted.
“I told my mom that I voted for the first time,” and the whole family said congratulations,” Mohamed said. “They’re all happy for me.”