Quote:
Originally Posted by DanaC
I doubt very much that bruce intended his comment to denigrate the syrian refugees - but the implied assumption that, unlike previous waves of refugees, the syrian refugees would be particularly uneducated, unskilled and unable to communicate in english definitely plays into an unpleasant and unfair stereotype.
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These are not the people you've worked with in the past. From what I’ve seen, these are not emigres, they’re refugees. They didn’t liquidate their assets and arrange passage, but grab what they could carry and run. And after walking for days dropped half what they thought they could carry, to what they could actually carry.
Normal people have their wealth tied up in real estate and personal possessions, not something easily transported or easily liquidated in a war zone. Make no mistake, Syria is a war zone and has been for some time. Even if these refugees worked in an office or have manual skills in a trade, that doesn’t automatically apply to jobs here. Why even a skilled Syrian carpenter is probably used to that archaic metric system.
Most are likely Muslims of some flavor, may or may not speak some English, and have little or no money. To plunk them in Detroit, where they don’t have the support of a community similar to themselves, expecting them to find employment paying enough for a family to live on, no less rehab an abandon (and likely gutted house), is ludicrous.
Christ, the natives, who are familiar with navigating Detroit, are struggling to keep their head above water, working multiple jobs just to feed the family.
This will tell you what's happening in Detroit.