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Far From the Land of Sheba: Ethiopian Political Refugees in New York City
| Article
# : |
17043 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1990 |
3,877 Words |
| Author
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Elizabeth D. Wise
Elizabeth D. Wise is a free-lance journalist whose articles
have appeared in the Financial Times, the New York City
Tribune, the Albany Times Union, the Waterbury Sunday
Republican, and in numerous magazines. Active in the New York
Ethiopian community, she has recently returned from a writing
assignment for the United Nations in Ethiopia, where she met
the families of many of the subjects in this article. She has
also covered political and military events in Eritrea, where
she has traveled with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front. |
Half a dozen dark-skinned men lean against a long bar, laughing and drinking. Their conversation is soft - words roll quickly off their tongues with broken sounds, like the chatter of birds - and the aroma of lamb and spices emanates from the kitchen behind them. The counter should hold bottles of birra and tej, but Budweiser and California wines take their place.
Elsewhere, in a church, a little girl in a traditional dress of white gauze jumps up at the sound of hand bell to take communion. Her mother pulls her back and puts a white shawl around her neck before letting her do down the aisle. A few minutes later she returns, holding the bit of cloth to her mouth, as the other children do, and takes her place in the pew. When she joins the chants in the church's ancient language of Ge'ez, members of the congregation turn to inspect the owner of this strong voice. Later, she whispers to her mother in English, with an American accent, "Everyone stared at me 'cause I sang loud."
These are Ethiopians, heirs to the ancient Abyssinian culture mentioned in the Old Testament and in Homer's Odyssey, living in what is for them a very new world. More of them flee their country each year to escape a strict military regime and a long-standing civil war. Two thirds of the Ethiopians who arrived in the United States in 1987 were political refugees. If civil strife in Ethiopia persists, Ethiopians may become a sizable ethnic minority in the United States. Having never been colonized and therefore without European apron strings, Ethiopians have already settled in Italy, Germany, England, and Canada. Large communities have also developed in San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, and Minneapolis. Washington, D.C., has the country's oldest and most
... (1999 of 23462 Characters)
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