In the late 1990s, Somali immigrants fleeing war and famine came to the United States seeking a stable life and knowing anything was better than what they had left behind. Some of them settled into small towns across the country like Barron, Wisconsin. What followed was a culture shock for a town that is nearly 90 percent white and has a population just under 3,500, according to the latest census in 2010. Here to witness it all was Dan McNeil, a former teacher, registered Democrat, and current school board member for the Barron school district.
McNeil, who is originally from Antigo, Wisconsin, arrived in Barron in 1983 when he was hired to teach first grade. After teaching first grade for 11 years he moved on to teach third grade for the next 20. He taught for a total of 36 years before retiring in 2011 and joining the Barron School Board.
As demographics across the country continue to become more diverse, McNeil believes the Somali immigration into the small town of Barron is a preview of what will happen across the country.
“This is the way the world is going to look in 20 years; like Barron. It’s not going to be what color you are or religion you are,” said McNeil. “It’s who you are and how you treat other people.”
As the Somalis began to move into Barron, a blatantly obvious language and culture barrier made their transition into the community even more difficult. “Barron is a very conservative community, so this was culture shock by both sides, I would say,” said McNeil. “A lot of misunderstanding.” Fights ensued in the high school gymnasium and Somalis were heckled walking down city streets.
The Somalis also settled into a collection of apartments that are isolated from the rest of the town. The apartments appeared to be in poor condition; screen windows were tattered with holes, bugs scurried across the walls, and an abandoned bed mattress sat outside the doorway entry to a unit. Nevertheless, it appeared the Somalis were perfectly content with their housing.
The manager of these buildings is Tom Kite. He often does construction and maintenance work on the buildings. Wearing light blue jeans, with an orange long sleeved shirt, Kite explained that things didn’t go well when the Somali’s first arrived in town. “There was tremendous tension. For many white people here, this was there first time they’ve seen a black person.”
What educators such as McNeil hoped would improve community relations were the younger Somali children integrating into the Barron school district with their families. “As those kids grow up with the regular white residents of Barron, you’ll see improvement and that has taken place,” says McNeil. “I walk in that school, and I see kids of all color, white kids, Chinese, Asian, and everybody’s working together everybody’s playing together.”
That improvement has come in the form of a soccer program initiated by the school administrator, a successful ESL program, and hopefully in the future, a Somali liaison who can serve on the Barron school board and represent the Somali community. There are currently no Somalis on the school board. “That community needs representation so that we understand each other better,” said McNeil.
Despite these programs that signal progress being made between the Somalis and the Barron community, there are still many who can’t get pass the Somalis’ culture and skin color. Gerry Lisi, Chairperson of the Barron Democratic Party says the Somalis are very socially conservative and believes Republicans would get along with the Somali immigrants if they could simply get past the differences of their outward appearance.
“It is surprising to me that the Barron County Republican Party has not established a close and mutually beneficial relationship with a community of people that encourages strong, large two-parent families; insists on weekly church attendance; discourages drinking and smoking; and holds conservative views on homosexuality and abortion. So much for Republican family values,” said Lisi. “We Democrats are glad to ally ourselves with these fine folks and enjoy seeing them establish families here.”
The Barron Republican Party declined to comment for this story.