Somali Refugee Resettlement and Residential Patterns in Nashville, Tennessee

Abstract

This research aims to cast scholarly light on the burgeoning Somali community in Nashville, Tennessee, by examining the residential patterns of Somali refugees. Using a mixed-methods approach that includes in-depth interviews, focus groups, and volunteer agencies, this study reveals that Somali refugees face particular barriers that directly influence the residential processes of Nashville’s Somali refugee community. Some of these barriers are rooted in the Somali community’s interpretation of Islam forbidding the provision or acceptance of loans with interest (ribā) from banks and other lenders, leading many Somalis to feel they are unable to participate in common Western banking practices. These types of barriers can limit both homeownership and entrepreneurial endeavors. Such complex cultural factors shaping Somali refugee resettlement challenge the deterministic model of spatial assimilation theory and underscore the need for more nuanced, group-specific research to understand the residential patterns and spatial outcomes of new refugee and immigrant communities in metropolitan areas in the U.S. South. The findings from this study are of value to local policymakers and community-based organizations interested in crafting legislation and establishing services that help Somali refugees better adapt to their host society.