Last September, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, a team of four other young Americans and I were in Omaha for a research project and filming a documentary. As we checked into the hotel, we read about a problem that some Somali Muslim workers from Grand Island, Neb., were having with management regarding prayer during work hours in the month of Ramadan. More than 200 legal immigrants were fired during the dispute.
This became a perfect case study for our project, “Journey into America.” Should the factory workers assimilate and not take a break for prayer like everyone else, or should they be allowed to hold on to their customs and traditions? How can they be accepted by the majority and become more American? And on whose terms?
Here is a link to the full article.
