The co-presidents of the St. Thomas Somali Student Association said they want to disprove President Donald Trump’s “racist” comments on Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, Trump told reporters that Somalis “contribute nothing” and that they are “garbage” during a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 2. The SSA’s leaders said their best course of action is to prove him wrong.
“Keep doing what we’ve been doing, keep having our events, showcasing our culture,” SSA Co-President junior Hamza Omar said. “Even though we don’t have to, prove what he’s saying to be false.”
SSA has a roster of 45 students on TommieLink, but Co-President junior Najma Abade said it can often host events of up to 80 students.
The club hasn’t had the opportunity to discuss Trump’s comments together, but Omar said his current focus is “trying to keep normalcy.”
Abade agreed, adding that she is focused on educating people — including those outside of the club — on available resources.
“I’m still processing. I’m doing OK, I’m doing well. I want to be in the know with what’s going on in the community, how I can best — how I can be there for people,” Abade said.
Resources include the “Know Your Rights” cards available in the Student Diversity & Inclusion Services office. These give people information for what to do when stopped by immigration or law enforcement.
“It is kind of challenging to be in that kind of space where I’m in the know with things, because then it kind of disrupts things I’m supposed to be focused on,” Abade said. “I also want to be there for my community at this pivotal moment.”
The Associated Press reported that ICE has arrested 12 people in Minneapolis in an operation targeting Somali people living unlawfully in the United States. Just five of these people are from Somalia.
Both students said they’ve seen increased racist messaging targeting Somali people on their social media feeds over the past week. Omar said he has seen “racist, nasty things” in TikTok comment sections, while Abade called posts on social media “hurtful” and said that it was “sad to see.”
However, both said they have not personally experienced racism on UST’s campus.
“We definitely know what’s going on outside of campus, so definitely there is that environment. You can feel the tension in the air. But, I would say on campus for the most part, I think things are fairly calm,” Omar said
Abade added that faculty members have reached out to check in with her over the past week.
Omar said he remembers feeling disrespected when he saw the president talk about the Somali community in Minnesota.
“You would think the president of the country would be this professional figure, you know at least speak politically correct, but he was just flat out, blatant racist,” Omar said.
Right now, both students are focusing on their club’s final event of the semester: a sip-and-paint on Dec. 11 to help people relax before finals.
They said they want to invite the campus community to join them on Feb. 13 for their biggest event of the year: their Somali culture night. The celebration focuses on Somali music, dance, poetry and food.
“Interact with your Somali neighbors and you’ll see that we’re just normal people like everyone else,” Omar said.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
