I hate diversity hires and they’re an insult to the minorities that actually had to work hard

[AbrahamFreedom]

They wouldn’t have changed their name though. There has been Somalis going to Wales and Sheffield around that time period. In fact the oldest SomAli community is found in those places i mentioned and no, there is no record of any of them changing their name to an cadaan one.

There is nothing unusual about a Somali living abroad in the early 1900s. Many Somali men were sailors who would often have to live in the UK and other places. We have records of Somali in Yemen in the 1880s working for British ships.

Many immigrants changed their first and last names in North America at the time though to something more Anglicized either through spelling or the whole name entirely. Its not farfetched that a Somali had to do it who would stand out way more. I see it all the time today of people who are multigenerational Canadian but not from Britain with obvious Anglicized names. If you look up famous non-British descent people, you'll find many cases of this. An obvious example is Trump's family. There was a lot of discrimination against non-WASPS then or those not culturally Anglophone. You had to integrate as much as possible back then.

Those Somalis obviously married gaalo. There were no Somali women there then.

 

[Angelina]

Many immigrants changed their first and last names in North America at the time though to something more Anglicized either through spelling or the whole name entirely. Its not farfetched that a Somali had to do it who would stand out way more. I see it all the time today of people who are multigenerational Canadian but not from Britain with obvious Anglicized names. If you look up famous non-British descent people, you'll find many cases of this. An obvious example is Trump's family. There was a lot of discrimination against non-WASPS then or those not culturally Anglophone. You had to integrate as much as possible back then.

Those Somalis obviously married gaalo. There were no Somali women there then.

Many immigrants, particularly Jewish and Chinese immigrants used to change their names in the UK all the time. Yet Somalis from what I know didn’t. Many Somalis lived in Tigers Bay which is an area in Wales in the early 1900s. Also, like you mentioned, there were no Somali women, hence most were married to local Welsh or English women. In fact the last man to be hanged in Britain was a Somali man with a white wife.

To get to my point, why is it that UK Somalis who were also a very small minority, in a racist country who also had white local wives often still kept their names, but ‘supposedly’ the Somalis that went to America didn’t?

It’s interesting story though nonetheless.

 

[AbrahamFreedom]

Many immigrants, particularly Jewish and Chinese immigrants used to change their names in the UK all the time. Yet Somalis from what I know didn’t. Many Somalis lived in Tigers Bay which is an area in Wales in the early 1900s. Also, like you mentioned, there were no Somali women, hence most were married to local Welsh or English women. In fact the last man to be hanged in Britain was a Somali man with a white wife.

To get to my point, why is it that UK Somalis who were also a very small minority, in a racist country who also had white local wives often still kept their names, but ‘supposedly’ the Somalis that went to America didn’t?

It’s interesting story though nonetheless.

Integration was a requirement among newcomers here, especially back then. You had to integrate and abandon your culture in that era and belong to the country. This was even the case for the Indigenous who lost their own languages and culture and way of life. They only speak English now and only a few of their elders know the language which will die with them. So you can see why the Somali men who came also had to change their names like in OPs case which is why I definitely believe her. They also had zero community which wouldnt have made a difference then. You can see all those Somalis come but there's no literature of a Somali community. They all mixed. If others did it, then Somalis are no different. Most white people here except more recent immigrants don't have the culture of their forefathers who came here. It's totally alien to them. They don't speak their language and practically all have mixed. You can even see it among North American Somalis today. They speak much weaker Somali, if any, compared to reer Europe despite coming to the west at the same time. In a few generations, they will become completely mixed. The culture of integration, even now, is just a lot stronger.

 

[Angelina]

Integration was a requirement among newcomers here, especially back then. You had to integrate and abandon your culture in that era and belong to the country. This was even the case for the Indigenous who lost their own languages and culture and way of life. They only speak English now and only a few of their elders know the language which will die with them. So you can see why the Somali men who came also had to change their names like in OPs case which is why I definitely believe her. They also had zero community which wouldnt have made a difference then. You can see all those Somalis come but there's no literature of a Somali community. They all mixed. If others did it, then Somalis are no different. Most white people here except more recent immigrants don't have the culture of their forefathers who came here. It's totally alien to them. They don't speak their language and practically all have mixed. You can even see it among North American Somalis today. They speak much weaker Somali, if any, compared to reer Europe despite coming to the west at the same time. In a few generations, they will become completely mixed. The culture of integration, even now, is just a lot stronger.

Check my new thread. This conversation inspired it and I did some research. Fascinating stuff. It’s about a Somali man called Ibrahim who lived in the UK 100 yrs ago!