'Little Ethiopia of the Pacific Northwest' by Joseph W. Scott and Solomon A. Getahun. (Photos: Transaction Publishers)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Wednesday, April 10th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) — Authors Joseph W. Scott, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Washington, and Solomon A. Getahun, professor of history at Central Michigan University, feature the Ethiopian community in Seattle in their book entitled Little Ethiopia of the Pacific Northwest, which was published last year.
The book’s description by the publisher (Transaction Publishers) highlights that the Ethiopian “community began with approximately two dozen college students who came to the city during the Ethiopian revolution of 1974. These sojourning students earned college and university degrees, but were unable to return home to use them to modernize the developing nation. These stranded students became pioneers who built a micro-community in inner-city Seattle. Providing background with an analysis of Seattle’s geographic, demographic, social, and economic challenges, this volume studies the students who became asylum seekers; their falls in position, power, prestige; and the income of these elite and non-elite settlers. The authors analyze examples of those who became entrepreneurs and the ingenuity and determination they employed to start successful businesses. The authors examine the challenges imposed on them by a school system that assigned their children to grade levels according to age rather than knowledge. They explore how the American welfare system worked in practice and explain how and why Ethiopians die young in Seattle. This fascinating study will be of interest to sociologists, ethnographers, and regional analysts.”
Professor Getahun is the author of two additional books entitled The History of the City of Gondar and The History of Ethiopian Immigrants and Refugees in America. Professor Scott is the author of The Black Revolts.
Read more.
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Related:
Being Ethiopian in Seattle (The Seattle Times)
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