By Kelly Yotebieng, Eleanor Paynter, and Hollie Nyseth Brehm
Donald J. Trump visited the Ohio State University today to meet with victims and first responders to Monday, November 28th’s violent attack on campus. While we commend him for taking the time to meet with these individuals, we would have hoped that he could have spent a few more hours while he was here to speak with some of the community who is reeling from these events. Let’s start with some background.
After spending most of the morning of November 28th hiding in our Ohio State offices and classrooms, or staying far from campus out of fear, we learned that the perpetrator of the attack that injured 13 people was Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali refugee. For us, the morning’s fears morphed into dread—not dread of refugees but rather dread for them, and for the repercussions this news could have on local Somali, refugee, and Muslim communities.
Yet, while some online responses have incited fear in the Muslim and Somali communities, members of the Ohio State campus community have responded with open hearts. Student organizations shared messages of support for their Somali and Muslim peers. The day after, student groups set up tables in common areas to offer comfort and fellowship for those still in shock or needing to talk about Monday’s events. More than 500 faculty, students, and staff attended last Tuesday evening’s #Buckeyestrong event to “listen, learn, and heal as a community.” Off-campus, communities have organized prayer vigils and held open houses at mosques. Nearly 1,000 Columbus residents attended a #columbusunited march, which included chants in support of refugees.
Then, at 3:20 on Wednesday morning, President-elect Trump tweeted: “ISIS is taking credit for the terrible stabbing attack at Ohio State University by a Somali refugee who should not have been in our country.” These words were reiterated at his rally last Thursday. As faculty, researchers, and students at Ohio State, and as residents of Columbus, we support the effort to reach out to victims but remain horrified by Mr. Trump’s first public responses to the incident and by the potential implications of his remarks and visit on campus and community climate. We offer these comments in response.
First, let’s talk numbers. The 16,596 refugees resettled in the Columbus area between 1983 and 2014—and the tens of thousands of refugees who have moved here from other U.S. locations—run businesses, lead local faith communities, and study at local colleges. They learn English, develop new job skills, march in our Fourth of July parades, and become citizens. And, according to a 2015 report entitled Impact of Refugees in Central Ohio, Columbus refugee communities support approximately 21,300 jobs in the greater metro area. We are talking about an annual economic impact of $1.6 billion, including $36 million in spending. Many other impacts on our community, such as the integral role refugees play in aid organizations, as mentors, and in facilitating summer programs for children throughout Franklin County, cannot be quantified but are arguably just as significant.
Second, while details about the attack will continue to unfold, news reports continually reference that Abdul Razak Ali Artan was a Somali refugee. Citizenship status, race, and religion are more likely to be mentioned when an attacker is not a member of the dominant community. This quickly implicates entire communities in the actions of an individual, just as Mr. Trump’s tweet on Wednesday implicated all refugees. Perhaps we should instead be focusing on how to help those who have experienced trauma, xenophobia, or discrimination and may still be suffering.
A robust body of academic literature has demonstrated the traumatic effects of war and displacement on individuals, even on the very young. We know, as well, that the children of those who suffer the impacts of mass violence can experience secondary trauma. Indeed, in an interview with the Ohio State University campus newspaper, Abdul Razak Ali Artan appears to have been distressed and isolated, in part because of fear to express his religion in public. The author of the original article has reflected on how evident this distress was in hindsight. To be clear, distress does not excuse, or clearly cause, violence. But, rather than excluding all refugees, or targeting any single group as a solution to our very real concerns about violence in the U.S., we should focus on the resources and networks of support available to those struggling to adjust to life in a new place or feeling marginalized in their communities.
Finally, let’s talk about the processes that determine who “shouldn’t be in our country.” Refugee “vetting,” as it has come to be known colloquially, is a thorough, multi-year process so intense that it risks further traumatizing those it aims to aid. Of the more than 65 million people displaced worldwide, less than one percent are resettled, and a fraction of those people make it through screenings by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to have a chance at building a new life for themselves in the U.S. Numerous resources available through the White House, Department of State, UNHCR, and refugee resettlement agencies offer more detailed explanations of the substantial evidence collected, the multiple interviews conducted, and the time required to determine whether a refugee is who he or she claims to be—whether, in fact, a person has suffered in ways our government recognizes as legitimate.
In sharing this information, we do not claim to speak for refugees. Rather, we write out of gratitude for the refugees who call Columbus home and who enrich our campus and this country—the refugees who are our students, our neighbors, and our friends. Though incredibly disappointed in Mr. Trump’s initial response to the tragic events on our campus, we are not without hope. On the next visit by the President-elect to Columbus, we invite him to reach out to the multiple communities affected by November 28th’s events, as residents throughout the city struggle to comprehend the aftermath of this incident. This visit could be an opportunity for Mr. Trump to better understand the wealth of refugee experiences in and contributions to life at Ohio State, in Columbus, and throughout the US. To visit Columbus without addressing these communities is to disregard the realities of many local residents and citizens. It is not too late to change the dangerous, exclusionary discourse and to focus instead on helping communities heal and grow. What we ask Mr. Trump is that he listen.
Kelly Yotebieng is pursuing her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at the Ohio State University focusing on resilience among urban refugees in Cameroon. She has worked with refugees overseas and in the context of refugee resettlement in the United States since 2004.
Eleanor Paynter is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Comparative Studies at the Ohio State University, studying literature and migration. Her work focuses on refugee narratives, memory, and national identity.
Dr. Hollie Nyseth Brehm is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Ohio State University. Her work examines the causes of genocide and how countries rebuild in the aftermath of mass violence.