Somali Dad Stands Up for Autistic Child After White Woman Hurls Slurs in Rochester, MN

Exactly. Yes, Somali men are over represented when it comes to gang violence, in regards to our small statistics in several countries like here in the Netherlands where Somali men commit the most crime compared to all refugee groups and are one of the highest groups overall, only rivaling Moroccan and black Caribbean but in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal since we are a very small population. And outside of one Somali gang that exist in Sweden (forgot it's name), i have yet to see organized crime like that compared to the organized crime in Europe/The west like that of the Balkan/Turkish/Albanian/Moroccan/Iraqi, Kurdish/Lebanese etc.
Sorry for the late reply , I got a little busy. I don’t have much knowledge on the Netherlands specifically and I don’t speak Dutch, so I won’t pretend to know that context as well as someone local might.


But I can speak on the broader “overrepresentation” claim that gets thrown around in the West , and not only is it wrong, as The Alchemist already explained, but it’s also deeply misleading.


Let’s break it down.

Gang violence, like I said when talking about Norway and Finland, isn’t some universal Somali trait. It’s contextual. It depends entirely on the environment people are dropped into. Crime isn’t just about “gangs.” And the truth is, Somalis were placed into neighborhoods that already had gang problems before they even got there. In a lot of places, Somali youth had to defend themselves just to survive. This is especially true in hostile or neglected urban areas.

If you’re forced into a low-income, gang-infested area, you have three options:

  1. Move out (not possible for most refugees right away),
  2. Stay quiet and risk getting targeted, or
  3. Organize and defend yourself.

That’s urban survival, not a cultural export.


Now, as someone who’s actually looked at these crime stats in depth , not just in the Netherlands, but in Sweden, Norway, and the UK , I can tell you this idea of “overrepresentation” is nonsense once you look closer.

Let me bring in some commentary based on translated sources Alchemist shared , and show how flawed they are:

First of all, they compare Somali youth, with a median age of 19, to native populations that have a median age of 42. That alone invalidates the comparison. If you want to be honest, compare 19-year-olds to 19-year-olds in any demographic. Everyone knows young men commit more crime.
The first image says it all as it is says on top of the graph ''Not adjusted for age or sex''

The not adjusting for the age part is in important i went over it in another thread. Because they are essentially comparing 19 year olds basically youth to 42 years olds, then come up with the idea that a population group is. Instead of comparing 19 years olds to other 19 year olds .

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This is like comparing Dutch women to Dutch men and then being shocked that men commit more crime , it’s basic criminology 101.

Once you adjust for age, Somali “crime” rates drop by nearly 50%. Let that sink in.
When they adjust for age etc crime rate drops as much as 50%
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And then there’s the difference between being accused and being convicted. A massive portion of crime stats are based on suspicions and allegations , not verdicts. Guilt is just assumed. That’s a huge problem in how data is being used to stigmatize.
Also only a fraction of those accused of crime is actually found guilty. So what they are actually doing is presuming guilt of crime based on immigrant background on the basis of them being accused or reported.

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They are also counting a number of potential offenses from very few suspected individuals/groups and not the proportion of each individual in the population groups as a whole. So 160-380 per 1000 , doesn't mean 160-368 separate individual Somalis, Ethiopians or Iraqis are accused of offenses but only the number offenses , so 1 person can commit/suspected of 50 thefts by himself or a single gang etc

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The vast majority of Somalis are law-abiding. This is an undeniable fact once you dig into the numbers.
As it says here: ''The vast majority are law-abiding''
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And then there’s this: a lot of these accusations come from bias in law enforcement. Many Somali immigrants are accused or suspected of crimes they never committed. You can even see the disparity in acquittal rates, which are higher than in the general population. That alone shows how much suspicion is placed unfairly on them.
Also the same Norwegian statistics agency gives another added explanation and says it might not even show them committing more crime like i said earlier about allegations only that they are purposefully being accessed of it ''higher risk of detection''
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Also, many of these crimes aren’t even committed by Somalis , but still get labeled as “Somali crime.” This happens when the police or media see a Black African suspect and just assume they’re Somali. Or worse , when other African nationals claim to be Somali for asylum reasons, and their actions get logged under “Somali crime stats.
As far as sexual offenses goes i don't think many of those who seek recent asylum with a Somali nationality/passport in places like Germany and UK are actually Somalis but other Africans/Ethiopians and they are probably people who are running from the law and committing those sexual offenses and other things.
As far as arrests goes, when it comes to Somalis it can be deeply inflated and false because you have people with names like ''Risman Naitsoka'' and ''Gabre Wounouse'' recorded as Somali migrant sexual offenders. Don't know what that former name is but its clearly not Somali and Gebre is Ethiopian/Habesha name.
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You can also see that they are not Somali from the mugshots of them.
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This might be highly specific to the UK and its not just news headlines. @X29 reached out to report them and they gave him this response , so they are recorded in court and by the police as Somali.
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They are basically entering the UK on false identities and Immigration agencies and the Home Office aren't even doing backround checks. There might be a bunch of them recorded as ''Somali'' but really aren't in actuality.

The reason why i believe this might be the case is because Somalis are underrepresented sexual offenses in Norway. Norway is really thorough when it comes to background checks and tougher on fake asylum declarations.
1738197000211-png.353990
There is crazy amount that claim fake asylum.


This has been confirmed by Somali crime advocacy organizations. According to a Sun News report from 2011, authorities in some countries literally just take people’s word when they say “I’m Somali”, no documentation, no verification. And then whatever they do, we get blamed for.
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Now ask yourself , if crime was something Somalis inherently brought with them, why is Somalia itself not plagued by crime?


Somalia has low civilian crime rates. No roving gangs. No mass theft. No murder sprees. Yes, there’s political instability due to external factors (including Al-Shabaab, which, by the way, exists partly due to foreign interference). But the idea that Somalis bring crime with them is absurd when you look at Somalia’s own social fabric.


Why do you think Somali parents send their kids back to Somalia through Dhaqan Celis programs? They’re literally trying to remove their kids from toxic Western environments and help them reorient culturally and socially.


And what happens when those kids get there?


They don’t recreate gang life. They don’t descend into violence. They reintegrate. That alone should tell you where the problem really lies.
 
Many of the black people have admitted themselves that they bullied Somalis because they saw them as a weak target and did consider us/them foreign as we were muslim, new to the west and looked different. This was even before the loud Somalis starting go off on them on social media.

Ultimately we Africans have just a different history compared to race and most of us would first identify with our nationality/ethnicity than race and for many that suffer from inferiority complexes especially towards us Horners, they take this as an insult against them and think that we are better than them. And since it's us Somalis that have a larger presence and population than other Honders in the West, we get the most shit of them, as in accusing us of being self-haters for not calling ourselves black. You see this same sentiment towards Ethiopians and Eritreans from certain black diasporans, especially in the US since many Ethiopians live there in DC.

The only thing they get going is that the Habeshas are overall very insular, both online and offline and because of religious similarities there are more intermarriages between them than we with black Americans/caribbeans. I know many that are half black American or Caribbean (jamaican) and half eritrean/Ethiopian.

But this case is just a race-baiting shit and will be forgotten in couple days, just like everything else. They really want to start a race war and sadly some of us want to be caught up with this instead of minding our business. For some reason many Western Somalis want to advocate and meddle in everyone's business, to the point that i have almost never seen this behaviour in other Africans and i'm not even talking about online. Some of the diaspora are really struggling with identity issues and can't help themselves throwing us all under the bus.

I hear where you're coming from, but I want to push back a bit on how this is being framed.

Calling what happened to Somalis in the West "bullying" downplays the reality , this wasn't just schoolyard teasing. It was targeting. And it wasn’t limited to Black Americans or Caribbeans either. Somalis were singled out by people of various backgrounds , White racists, some South Asians, other African immigrants. It was a multi-layered hostility toward a group that didn't conform to the immigrant mold.


What made Somalis different and frankly why the treatment was often more aggressive , is that we didn’t come with the same immigrant insecurity or deference. We weren’t interested in appeasing anyone or hiding who we were. Many Somalis held their ground, spoke their language openly, dressed how they wanted, and carried themselves with confidence, even if they had nothing material. That self-assurance rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.


I’ve seen Nigerians, Ghanaians, and others in the UK and US speak about hiding their identity to avoid certain stereotypes or treatment. Somalis did the opposite , we didn’t shrink ourselves. And that unapologetic stance, mixed with cultural differences (religion, names, language), made us more visible , and unfortunately, an easier target for it.


And you’re right , this dynamic existed long before "loud" Somalis on social media or the current wave of trolling. The trolls just tapped into an already existing animosity and amplified it. They didn’t invent the sentiments , they just knew there was a market for it.


As for the wider point , I’ve always said Somalis should stop trying to "fit in" or seek validation from groups that don’t value us. It’s a trap. Our focus should be on strengthening ourselves: through deen, health, education, business, and community. Build our own social and recreational structures, invest in our youth, and cultivate a strong internal identity. That’s where true respect and meaning come from , not in trying to chase acceptance or proximity to anyone else.

Let people say what they want. In the end, it's always been about how ''We" carry ourselves and where we invest our energy.
 
Couldn't have said this any better, these were views people always held about us and the "troll community" simply allowed them to say what they really wanted about us with impunity.

This makes the trolls wrong because they've so deeply embedded a horrible image of us to people online but reality is plenty of communities do similar and don't get it held to their image in the same way we do, and plenty of communities have trolls or subgroups that cause a ruckus that would never get held against them. "FBA" doesn't make other black people hate Black Americans in the way that "troll" has supposedly made people realise the "true racism" of Somalis.

I've heard all of the things these people spew about us in "retaliation" long before "twitter trolls" existed. and have been actively other by plenty of "black" groups.

Exactly , and I’m glad you brought that up, because it highlights the clear double standard.

You’ll see Nigerians online , even verified accounts , occasionally say things like “I’m not Black, I’m Nigerian.”

People might argue with them or call them out, but it never turns into a wider smear campaign against all Nigerians. No one accuses their entire group of thinking they’re superior or trying to be White. Meanwhile, when a "random" Somali says something off-key, suddenly it becomes “all Somalis think they’re Arab” or “Somalis hate being Black.” It’s a wild leap that people don’t make with any other community.

Every group online has their own trolls, contrarians, or just straight-up weirdos. That’s the internet. But somehow, only Somalis are made to carry the burden of their worst actors , as if we’re a monolith, and every random Twitter account reflects all 20+ million of us globally.


And like you said, the reaction to someone like Myron from Fresh & Fit proves it. He’s Sudanese, and he’s said truly vile, anti-Black stuff. Yet, people don’t turn around and say, “Sudanese people are anti-Black” or go after his whole ethnicity. In fact, when he went viral for his mess, a lot of people didn’t even mention his background , but somehow Somalis still got dragged in the replies.

It’s selective outrage, and Somalis are uniquely positioned as “outsiders” even when we're right in the room. That’s why they project more anger at us , not because we’re worse, but because they already wanted to view us differently. The trolls didn’t create this , they just gave people cover to say what they already felt.
 
Exactly , and I’m glad you brought that up, because it highlights the clear double standard.

You’ll see Nigerians online , even verified accounts , occasionally say things like “I’m not Black, I’m Nigerian.”

People might argue with them or call them out, but it never turns into a wider smear campaign against all Nigerians. No one accuses their entire group of thinking they’re superior or trying to be White. Meanwhile, when a "random" Somali says something off-key, suddenly it becomes “all Somalis think they’re Arab” or “Somalis hate being Black.” It’s a wild leap that people don’t make with any other community.

Every group online has their own trolls, contrarians, or just straight-up weirdos. That’s the internet. But somehow, only Somalis are made to carry the burden of their worst actors , as if we’re a monolith, and every random Twitter account reflects all 20+ million of us globally.


And like you said, the reaction to someone like Myron from Fresh & Fit proves it. He’s Sudanese, and he’s said truly vile, anti-Black stuff. Yet, people don’t turn around and say, “Sudanese people are anti-Black” or go after his whole ethnicity. In fact, when he went viral for his mess, a lot of people didn’t even mention his background , but somehow Somalis still got dragged in the replies.

It’s selective outrage, and Somalis are uniquely positioned as “outsiders” even when we're right in the room. That’s why they project more anger at us , not because we’re worse, but because they already wanted to view us differently. The trolls didn’t create this , they just gave people cover to say what they already felt.
Thank you, very well said.


Don't hate me; hate them!
I'm the good one.
 
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Exactly , and I’m glad you brought that up, because it highlights the clear double standard.

You’ll see Nigerians online , even verified accounts , occasionally say things like “I’m not Black, I’m Nigerian.”

People might argue with them or call them out, but it never turns into a wider smear campaign against all Nigerians. No one accuses their entire group of thinking they’re superior or trying to be White. Meanwhile, when a "random" Somali says something off-key, suddenly it becomes “all Somalis think they’re Arab” or “Somalis hate being Black.” It’s a wild leap that people don’t make with any other community.

Every group online has their own trolls, contrarians, or just straight-up weirdos. That’s the internet. But somehow, only Somalis are made to carry the burden of their worst actors , as if we’re a monolith, and every random Twitter account reflects all 20+ million of us globally.


And like you said, the reaction to someone like Myron from Fresh & Fit proves it. He’s Sudanese, and he’s said truly vile, anti-Black stuff. Yet, people don’t turn around and say, “Sudanese people are anti-Black” or go after his whole ethnicity. In fact, when he went viral for his mess, a lot of people didn’t even mention his background , but somehow Somalis still got dragged in the replies.

It’s selective outrage, and Somalis are uniquely positioned as “outsiders” even when we're right in the room. That’s why they project more anger at us , not because we’re worse, but because they already wanted to view us differently. The trolls didn’t create this , they just gave people cover to say what they already felt.
There is also that Ethiopian streamer twomad who was known as a troll. Did anyone target or go after Ethiopians? Nope. No one cared about his background despite all the outlandish stuff he did. Yet Somalis who never made any infamous online personalities are shat on. Its silly.

I don't want to sound like we have a victim complex since at the end of the day, Somalis aren't really bashed on that hard let alone actually targeted in real life.
 
There is also that Ethiopian streamer twomad who was known as a troll. Did anyone target or go after Ethiopians? Nope. No one cared about his background despite all the outlandish stuff he did. Yet Somalis who never made any infamous online personalities are shat on. Its silly.

I don't want to sound like we have a victim complex since at the end of the day, Somalis aren't really bashed on that hard let alone actually targeted in real life.

Exactly , even figures like that Habesha guy “Johnny Somali” or Ramsey, who’s not even Somali, don’t really damage the Somali reputation the way some claim. What they're actually doing is cosplaying as Somali to exploit the bizarre fixation people have with singling out Somalis in particular. That’s the real story , not the trolls themselves, but the disproportionate attention they get because they’re pretending to be Somali.


And I agree , we should be careful not to fall into a victim complex. At the end of the day, most of this noise is online and doesn’t reflect real-world interactions for the majority of Somalis. The smartest thing we can do is to disengage from trying to win online popularity contests or prove ourselves through Western platforms.

Instead of chasing influencer status or trying to become entertainers in industries that will never fully accept or represent us properly, Somali youth should focus on building their own spaces , culturally, intellectually, and economically. That means investing in regulated media ecosystems back home and producing content for their own communities and diaspora networks.

East Asians are a great example. Despite having very little mainstream presence in Western pop culture , and often being portrayed through racist caricatures when they do appear , they didn’t beg for inclusion. They built massive, influential media industries back home, on their own terms.

We should be thinking the same way. Use the West as a stepping stone, not a destination. Grow the community’s knowledge, networks, and resources , then turn that back toward building up something meaningful for Somalis, by Somalis.



Thank you, very well said.


Just imagine if........

“Don’t kill me, kill Black Americans, I’m Jamaican.”

Lmaoo . Imagine if she were Somali. Social media would’ve exploded with threads dissecting Somali culture, identity, and religion for days. You know damn well nobody walked away from that video blaming Jamaica or launching a campaign to question Jamaicans' “Blackness” or their place in the diaspora.

The double standard is so obvious. How many times have we seen Jamaicans, Haitians, or Nigerians say something blatantly anti-Black or distance themselves from “Black” as a racial identity and yet, their entire nationality or ethnic group isn’t dragged through the mud for it?

Remember that Nigerian woman who went on a full-blown racist tirade, throwing out the N-word with a hard R? People immediately tried to claim she was Somali. And when it turned out she wasn’t? Silence. No accountability, no follow-up threads targeting Nigerians , nothing. I’m sure @Xoriyo remembers that thread too, though I can’t find it right now.

It just proves there’s a deep-seated bias , a weird, persistent urge to single out Somalis no matter what. But when other communities say or do the exact same things (or worse), people suddenly find their nuance.
 
Exactly , even figures like that Habesha guy “Johnny Somali” or Ramsey, who’s not even Somali, don’t really damage the Somali reputation the way some claim. What they're actually doing is cosplaying as Somali to exploit the bizarre fixation people have with singling out Somalis in particular. That’s the real story , not the trolls themselves, but the disproportionate attention they get because they’re pretending to be Somali.


And I agree , we should be careful not to fall into a victim complex. At the end of the day, most of this noise is online and doesn’t reflect real-world interactions for the majority of Somalis. The smartest thing we can do is to disengage from trying to win online popularity contests or prove ourselves through Western platforms.

Instead of chasing influencer status or trying to become entertainers in industries that will never fully accept or represent us properly, Somali youth should focus on building their own spaces , culturally, intellectually, and economically. That means investing in regulated media ecosystems back home and producing content for their own communities and diaspora networks.

East Asians are a great example. Despite having very little mainstream presence in Western pop culture , and often being portrayed through racist caricatures when they do appear , they didn’t beg for inclusion. They built massive, influential media industries back home, on their own terms.

We should be thinking the same way. Use the West as a stepping stone, not a destination. Grow the community’s knowledge, networks, and resources , then turn that back toward building up something meaningful for Somalis, by Somalis.





“Don’t kill me, kill Black Americans, I’m Jamaican.”

Lmaoo . Imagine if she were Somali. Social media would’ve exploded with threads dissecting Somali culture, identity, and religion for days. You know damn well nobody walked away from that video blaming Jamaica or launching a campaign to question Jamaicans' “Blackness” or their place in the diaspora.

The double standard is so obvious. How many times have we seen Jamaicans, Haitians, or Nigerians say something blatantly anti-Black or distance themselves from “Black” as a racial identity and yet, their entire nationality or ethnic group isn’t dragged through the mud for it?

Remember that Nigerian woman who went on a full-blown racist tirade, throwing out the N-word with a hard R? People immediately tried to claim she was Somali. And when it turned out she wasn’t? Silence. No accountability, no follow-up threads targeting Nigerians , nothing. I’m sure @Xoriyo remembers that thread too, though I can’t find it right now.

It just proves there’s a deep-seated bias , a weird, persistent urge to single out Somalis no matter what. But when other communities say or do the exact same things (or worse), people suddenly find their nuance.
I can't agree more. Not to labor on this video, but like you said, "if she was Somali"... Everyday Somalis would be excoriated like nothing else. You make an interesting point about foreign trolls capitalizing on the hyperfocus of Somalis. As an aside the intra-black jockeying has offered Somalis some reprieve.
 

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