Races in Kent WA - "White alone 48.4%". That's right kids. I live in a minority-majority community and have for years. And refugees? We've got them. Somali, Iraqi, Afghani, Burmese, Nepalese, Ukrainian, Russian, and I'm sure I'm leaving out a few. And then there are the immigrants from India, Korea, China, Vietnam, England, Mexico, etc, etc, and etc. Are there Muslims in my community? You bet there are. I see them everyday. We also have Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists. We have Christian churches, a Buddhist temple, a Hindu temple, and Muslim mosques. We don't have a Jewish synagog but Tukwila and Des Moines are just up the road.
You know what we haven't had even 1 of? A terrorist incident.
Do I expect Syrian refugees to be resettled just up the street from me? Yes I do. Does that bother me? No it doesn't. Because experience tells me that the vast majority of them will work very hard to make better lives for themselves and their families. There will be some lazy butt whiners in the mix but that's true of any group of people.
So good on you Governor Jay Inslee. I was beginning to worry that we'd have to strike "home of the brave" from the Star Spangled Banner.
Interestingly, the Seattle Times put up an interactive maps as to where individuals with refugee status are located in the Seattle Area. Seattle proper has over 10,000, the largest group represented being from Somalia. Kent has over 4000, the largest group being Iraqi. Renton has only 900, but the largest group being Moldova.
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