Jerry Gordon at The New English Review writes a fascinating article of multi-culture-shock.  It’s really a case study of what happens when a tribal community of Muslims find their way to a small-town community of Tennessee.  The Enlightenment ideal of pluralism is one thing.  The 21st century reality of it is another.  The article is an interview with Brian Mosely, a writer for the small newspaper of the small town of Shelbyville, Tennessee.  He’s spent a long time covering the Somali community who was brought in by Tyson Chicken to work in the factory.  He said this when asked about the difficulties of such an arrangement:

There are so many difficulties; it’s hard to know where to begin. At the top of the list would have to be the attitude of the Somali refugees, which locals have consistently described as ‘rude and demanding’. This description comes from practically everyone who have encountered or interacted with them, from your average convenience store clerk all the way to law enforcement officers and other officials.

Given that this area of Tennessee is known for their southern hospitality, the behavior of the Somalis has really angered many people in the community, even those who would typically welcome people from other cultures. But what is really infuriating many residents are that the groups who bring the Somalis into the country appear to expect the local community to practice the same type of moral and cultural relativism they do.

For example, when asked about the ‘rude and arrogant’ behavior, the head of Catholic Charities said that ‘this is just the Western perception of the Somali culture.’ She claimed that since the Somalis have been refugees for so long, it is only through being rude and demanding that they have managed to get the little they have gotten to survive over the years in the camp.” However, these types of explanations have not been well received here at all. I hear a lot of variations on the phrase, ‘when in Rome…’ from the public, although many others have been quite a bit more direct about expressing their feelings.

It gets worse.  They don’t seem to like firefighters, police officers, and female school administrators, among others.