Then why did they need a large mosque/school complex, and who was paying for it?
We wrote a post here in February where we quoted a blogger who estimated the Somali population in St. Cloud at 25,000!
Now some economists at St. Cloud State University say that number is way off—that the population is much much smaller.
So, if the economists are correct, it begs the question—-why do the Somalis need the expensive mosque complex that roiled the city in controversy here last fall, for so few people who surely couldn’t have the millions of dollars needed to build such a massive project?
From WJON.com:
ST. CLOUD – Two economists at St. Cloud State University released a study on immigration in St. Cloud on Friday, with a focus on immigrants from Eastern Africa.
The School of Public Affairs Research Institute released the “St. Cloud Immigration Fact Sheet”. The report was written by King Banaian, the director of the institute and economics professor, and Monica Garcia-Perez, assistant professor of economics and member of the Faculty Research Group on Immigration in Minnesota. The study reviews U.S. Census data and records from human service officials in Stearns County.
The report shows that 4,484 foreign-born individuals live in the City of St. Cloud, 6.8 percent of its estimated population.
Ethiopia was the birthplace of 195 of those in the city, compared to 469 from Kenya and 888 from “other Eastern Africa” which includes Somalia.
Now this next paragraph indicates there is a rapid increase in refugee numbers in the county as a whole coinciding with the opening of Lutheran Social Services office there:
Separate information from Stearns County as a whole showed that 2,532 individuals receiving some human services spoke an east African language. That’s an increase from 1,243 people from 2010.
Banaian says there are many claims made in St. Cloud about the size of the East Africa immigrant population, but that most of the numbers in this study indicated otherwise.
“We read several stories in the press that had officials and citizens saying there were more than 10,000 Somali immigrants in the St. Cloud area,” Banaian says, “The data does’t support that claim and we felt it important to call attention to what the official data said.”
You can read the entire report by clicking here.
Dr. Luke Tripp a community organizer/agitator a’la Saul Alinsky/Obama!
While researching this post I came across an opinion piece by Dr. Luke Tripp also from St. Cloud State.
I wrote about Tripp here in 2010 when it was clear he was politically organizing the Somalis and wanted to be sure to run Rep. Michele Bachmann out of office.
In his (October 2013) screed supporting the Somali Islamic Center he says opposition to the Mosque complex (it was to have residential housing and stores in addition to a school and mosque) was all about “white Christian hegemony.”
Opposition to the project demonstrated ‘deep-seated American racism!’ blah! blah! blah! said Tripp:
The city officials should enthusiastically support the proposal for the Islamic Center of St. Cloud. It will empower the Somali community to provide its members with social, economic, and psychological assets to support their integration into the city. By providing youth services and supporting families seeking guidance for solving problems, the center would serve as an agent to spawn solutions to pressing social needs.
It can also help dismantle racism in the city. The reality of the growing Somali population and the accompanying racial tensions will eventually compel some accommodation. However, without progressive political leadership, racial tensions will continue to fester, thus undermining the vision of a vibrant multicultural city. Will the city officials work to change the image of the city from “White Cloud” to “Rainbow Community?”
The White Council member’s opposition to the Islamic Center was strong and rigid. They and some White residents contended that the project would cause parking problems, traffic congestion, and lower property values. They were also critical of the size and location of the proposed Islamic Center of St. Cloud; the project is too large for the site.
Their argument was used to obscure, confuse and mislead the public. And it worked to a great extent because the predicted impact of the project on the area seemed reasonable. Thus their concerns seemed legitimate and unbiased. But their underlying opposition to the project reflects the deep-seated racism endemic to U.S. society.
See our complete archive on St. Cloud by clicking here. We have been following the city’s troubles ever since some Somali ‘kids’ tormented a fellow student’s service dog here in 2008.