Outcasts United

In Warren St. John’s Outcasts United, the reader witnesses the struggles Luma Mufleh faces as she tries to get a suitable soccer field for her soccer teams composed of refugee immigrants from nations ravaged with war and terrorism; the conflicts she faces allows the reader to examine the changes (or lack thereof) that are happening/have happened across the world, even in our own hometowns. Without a doubt, the people of Clarkston are reluctant to accept the change that was beginning to envelope the town and that is the attitude that exemplifies the xenophobia that locks the closed minds of many Americans today. Truly, Luma would have had fewer problems acquiring the field necessary for the team to safely practice had they been a group of white

The Refugee Situation Worldwide Warren St. John, a “youth soccer” referee, was moved by the Fugees, a refugee soccer team, and decided to follow them to get to know their story. His book, Outcasts United, was published in April 2009. Warren St. John follows the journey and struggles of Luma, the Fugees and their families throughout his book. Luma was just a regular woman in Jordan who, because of her culture, was expected to marry and take care of her children and let the husband work, but she did not think women were any less than men. She was also very tough and she never showed emotion or weakness.

In Warren St. John’s Outcasts United, the citizens of Clarkston, Georgia had a fantasy of living in the ideal American town. However, that fantasy stood no chance when faced with the harsh reality of life. When a myriad of refugees from war-torn countries were placed in Clarkston, the townspeople saw their fantasy begin to slip away. Clarkston’s residents disliked the influx of refugees because they feared the thought of losing their ideal American town. The citizens were too selfish to live in such a state of liminality as depicted by St. John. Rather than helping their neighbors, the “old” Clarkston residents maintained their ideology by isolating the refugees and making it nearly impossible for the refugees to survive or have a desirable life in Clarkston. The Clarkston residents were driven by fear of the unknown and were reluctant to accept the refugees. Luma started a youth soccer program, which was aimed toward the refugee children to help the younger generation of refugees fit into the American society and lessen the tensions between the Clarkston residents and the refugees that was evident in her generation of refugees. The Clarkston residents had to accept and become a part of the inevitable change in their community.

“Refugees are part of humanity and we can’t leave them behind.” Ger Duany, Actor. If we have the ability and the power to help people we have to help. We can’t just shut the door on them. According to Warren St. John in Outcasts United, the town of Clarkston, Georgia, was chosen as a refugee resettlement site for several reasons, including access to affordable housing, affordable public transportation, and availability of low-skill jobs.

“Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend.” ― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose. Outcasts United, by Warren St. John, follows the stories of war-torn refugees that found themselves in the small town community of Clarkston. Tensions were high as the wave of new culture clashed with the status quo of “Old Clarkston” residents. However, in light of the unstable situation, a group of young boys were able to find their home on the soccer field. The human need for belonging is explored in this book. However, refugees have an extremely difficult journey to acceptance due to the isolating tendencies that resettlement can cause.

Clarkston, Atlanta has gone through major change in the past decade. They have had a massive influx of refugees from all around the world. With this change comes the question of will Clarkston be able to adapt and survive this change? Some people of the town adapt better than others. Luma Mufleh helps some of these people get used to their town that is not the same. Some people in Clarkston can not accept that their town is made up of refugees and will refuse to communicate and cooperate. The refugees on Luma’s team and some from around her have taken it upon themselves to “be the bigger man” and try to get along with the people of Clarkston. Clarkston is still trying to make it.

In a small town outside of metro Atlanta, each year, at least 1,500 refugees settle in the city of Clarkston to start a new beginning at life. Refugees from Bhutan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, and Vietnam come in waves from every corner of the globe. Lately there has been an increasingly number of refugees from the Congo, due to the civil war that has been ongoing for many years. Currently, there is a population of 13,000 individuals who have made Clarkston their home away from home. We ask, what brings the refugees to this little city? Many wonder how this has happened, how Clarkston has developed its own little cultural sense of identity? Refugees started settling in Clarkston back in the early 1990's, and it's been the resettlement hub ever since. The reason so many refugees settled in Clarkston, Georgia is due to the low- income based apartments, easy access to public transit and it’s near the interstate, which can take you to any part of Atlanta.

Kottak, Conrad Phillip and Kayhryn Kozaitis 2012 On Being Different, Diversity and Multiculturalism in the North American Mainstream, 4th edition, McGraw Hill Press, New York: Chapter 8. (textbook)

Outcast United was a book filled with emotion, and a culture completely different from anything of which the average American citizen has ever been exposed. Lumas attitude toward the fugees was incredibly positive. No matter what the situation was luma helped anyone on the Fugees team.

In today’s society, many people do not think about the outcome that immigration can lead to. It has been noticed that immigration into the United States is increasing more rapidly than ever. Recently, talk of allowing a large number of refugees to travel to the United States has surfaced in the media and has proven to be an extremely controversial topic. When it comes to refugees, many complications arise and some of these complications can be depicted in towns such as Clarkston, Georgia. In the novel Outcasts United, author, Warren St. John gravitates toward the expression of the idea of refugees and the struggles they encounter when coming to America.

In “Outcasts United” written by Warren St. John we learn about the lives of multiple young children along with their families coming from broken homes that seek a better living, they are refugee. Throughout the book, the lives of the kids are described on how they learn to adapt to this new life. Luma Mufleh is introduced in the beginning. She is the creator of the “Fugees” a soccer team she started in order to give these boys a way to escape from their past. While learning the way these kids live their life, the theme that is portrayed to us would be teamwork.

As Outcasts United began to unfold, one can note many values that endorse those of Bethel College, St. John amplifies certain ones. The most prevalent value is diversity, which Bethel proposes they prize individuals for their uniqueness.(Bethel) Which goes is parallel with the entire book Outcasts United. St. John shows us different experiences with diversity, for example, the diversity experienced by the original people of Clarkston is vastly different from what was experienced by Luma and the refugees that were relocated to the town of Clarkston. In chapter three of the novel, St. John states “in the late 1980s, another group of outsiders took note of Clarkston: the nonprofit agencies that resettle the tens of thousands of refugees accepted into the United States each year”. (St. John 35) Some experiences with diversity are more negative than others. After analysing Outcast United one can

“People Like Us” by David Brooks examines diversity in America and argues that even though society tends to idealize diversity in a way, most of us don’t really care too much about it as long as we are happy. In the first paragraph Brooks states “ what I have seen all around the country is people making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves”. This is something that most of us notice on some scale, but what does it say about the need for diversity in America? Brooks explains “The United States might be a diverse nation when considered as a whole, but block by block and institution by institution it is a relatively homogenous nation” This is an irrefutable truth, we all know that cities like Laredo Texas and Lincoln Nebraska are predominantly white and in cities like Detroit Michigan and Jackson Mississippi the population is predominantly black. However, what we fail to realize is the extreme racial separation that is taking place naturally at a much smaller scale, not even city to city but neighborhood to neighborhood and house to house. Brooks backs up his claim with the following example, “In Manhattan the owner of a three million dollar SoHo loft would feel out of place moving into a three million dollar Fifth Avenue apartment”. Politics, religion, income, lifestyle and general outlook on life can change in a matter of blocks. This may all seem

Negative aspects of multiculturalism are also in effect, such as incoherence within a nation, loss of national identity, and conflicts among different ethnic groups. First of all, while differences are highlighted and encouraged, they are also a cause of disjointedness among the different ethnic groups in a country because they fail to function as one nation, instead forming small communities. This often causes a lack of communication between such ethnic groups and leads to a loss of unity in a country. Furthermore, immigration and pluralism often lead to a diminishment or complete disappearance of national identity in a multicultural country. An example of this is Canada because it was created on the basis of immigration without having its own distinct culture from the beginning, but choosing to include different cultures instead to become what is known today as a multicultural society. While generally it is seen in a positive light, it often raises concern that the country’s identity may disappear altogether in the future. Finally, intense pluralism is oftentimes a reason for riots and conflicts, indirectly related to immigrants or ethnicity. For example, in France tension among ethnic groups and riots have happened in the past because of the conditions of the communities where the original immigrants settled in, combining high unemployment rates and discrimination. (“France Riots”) Sweden

Warren St. John’s ‘Outcasts United” is a story consisting of the difficult yet moving journey of Luma Mufleh. Luma was born in Amman, Jordan, and was full of brightness and potential. However, the environment of Amman was poor and didn’t provide enough education to create a successful future. Because her wealthy father, Hassan, had very high hopes of his daughter, him and his wife Sawsan decided to send her to the United Sates for college. After experiencing the amazing opportunities and freedom offered in the U.S, Luma decided to stay there, even if that meant being permanently cut off from her loving Jordanian family and the wealth that came along with them.