Reflecting on the American Dream Today

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. I'm going to be honest with you. I am online way more than I probably should be. And between me and everyone else at my house, we've got a zillion screens going on at any given moment. So when my internet slows down, it is a full crisis. That's why having fast, reliable internet that can keep up really matters and why you need optimum famously fast fiber Internet Optimum fiber blows flaky five G out of the water and keeps it cool with the fastest and most reliable speeds that don't slow when things heat up. And right now, they have the deal of the summer, just thirty dollars a month for five years. So don't wait, call eight eight eight for optimum. Visit optimum dot com or stop by your local optimum store today Famously Fast fiber for thirty dollars a month for five years. You can't beat it Terms apply, see optimum d. com for details The twenty twenty six World Cups started with forty eight teams and we've now reached the knockout stage cords have been broken the way that Messy has been able to score these goals late in his career. His cage unbroken records is the consequence for him. And new heroes have emerged. This country's caught the fever. Casual fans are now die hard fans More than the score podcast is bringing you the stories beyond the score lines More than the score from the BBC World Service Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts Hey there, it's Tristan Redman, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC The United States is marking two hundred and fifty years since its founding. And since the global story is a show about where the world and America meet, dedicating a whole week of podcasts to some surprising tales of American influence on the world stage We've had some very special guests like Roman Mars, host of the hit podcast ninety nine percent Invisible. We've delved into the shadow world of the CIA, and we've heard how the United States helped the rise of a rival superpower Today as a bonus for your feed, we're bringing you an episode from the series. So for this episode, we look at the American Dream It's one of the most successful exports the United States has ever sold the world tantalizing promise of a better freer, richer life In this episode, we tell one incredible story of the journey of an American dream seeker and ask whether that dream is still attainable To hear more of this the series, search the global story wherever you get your podcast Enjoy the show. Millions of people have moved to America shores with the belief that if you work hard, anything is possible did not see America as a place I saw it as an idea, the idea of freedom Is the American dream fading I feel like the American Dream is alive but not well For more than a decade, BBC has been following the extraordinary story of one dream seeker someomeone who grew up loving America, who literally won a lottery, a golden ticket to come to the United States and believed deeply in the promise of America, but now has somewhat complicated feelings rom the BBC, I'm a Mahhalid in Washington, D.C Today on the Global Story, Abdiss American Dream. Ubdy Nor Eftin grew up in Somalia in the nineteen nineties during a civil warar I don't remember beast all I remember war I have had so many bullets flying and all that stuff. So there are many situations where I almost died. He experienced a life that no child should have to When the war led to a famine, he and his siblings ate sand and tree bark to try to relieve their hunger And when his baby sister died, Abzi remembers helping to dig her grave. It was in the middle of this crisis when Abdi had his first encounter with Americans. I was in Mogadesu. It was really one night. I think I was like seven or something. My father was talking to my mother. Americans are landing tonight I was like, what What do the Americans look like? who are they? And I was thinking like giant people, you know? But then that was the night, United States forces were landing in Mongarico There was a smile on their faces, you know what I'm saying? And I went around these white people and every one of them looks like Remo I accepted Grumble, grumble, grumble. and all of them turned bang just looking at me, smiling and they were just talking. They were feeding us with Jn They give us butter Brered They give us sweets, the tastiest food that I've ever eaten. wow. Ubdy began dreaming of America. He would go to the one house in the neighborhood with the television and watch Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, taking a paper and pencil with him to jot down words so he could teach himself English minus the Austrian accent, of course in love with the American culture. I'm in love with the American education I' in love with their Beautiful roads and streets. I'm in law with the American language. I' in love with everything, everything in the United States These clips of UDee come from a documentary the BBC made with him back in twenty fourteen then he was just about to move to America to begin his American dream So with the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary coming up this Saturday, we thought, who better to talk to and I gave Ub the a callult. Ad It's a pleasure to meet you and a pleasure to have you on the Gobal Strave Ive heard about your life. I've listened to some of the reporting. I know the BBC had been following your life going back more than a decade. so it's It's a real pleasure to meet you, albeit virtually, but still a pleasure. Indeeded. You are also famous, Asma so.. That's very kind of you to say. And you're joining us now. you live in Maine? Yes, absolutely. It's nothing like where I grew up. Nothing like that. And so you might be wondering what is What this guy from one hundred and ten degrees Somalia doing in Maine Manaine's been home for a long time now And this weekend, Aby will be celebrating july fourth just like everyone else. But one part of the celebration triggers memories. Fireworks. This is one of the shocking things about America to me you know, fireworks because I have a I have a trauma about gun sounds and stuff like that. And I remember the first july fourth in twenty fifteen I said Who! Tw groups are fighting in our neighborhood because the fireworks is sold loud the entire town you know lit up I mentioned already that Abdi had a really, really hard childhood in war torn Somalia That was the nineteen nineties. But then in two thousand six, when he was in his early twenties, Somalia was overtaken by the Islamist group Al Shabab Udate told me that life in Somalia went from hard to unbearable Al Shabab imposed strict rules And that was the first time in my life that I lost freedom Freedom to have a haircut the way I want it Freedom to play soccer the way I wanted, freedom to go to movies and everything everything collapsed. And that is what I lost. Once again, he faced war and his house was destroyed by a bomb I went where it used to be my bedroom, which is now gone. took a shovel Dig out a dirt, like you're digging a graveyard. And I basically lit six feet Okay because that was the best way to survive the nightly bullets, the nightly shellings W hold on. up you Dug a hole in the dirt And you slept in that concave area? Yes I did. Oh wow. Yeah. I lived in there for quite a while within all those years And I was growing taller. I was becoming basically from a boy to a man and that's that's a very dangerous Abdi worried that now that he was a grown man, Al Shabab or another armed group would force him to join them He fled his home country and smuggled himself into neighboring Kenya He had escaped the bloodshed of Somalia, but he could not entirely escape Al Shabat. The group had carried out several attacks in Kenya, and shortly after Abdi moved there, the Kenyan government began a crackdown on the Somali immigrant community Abdi remembers experiencing a lot of violence and discrimination during those days, being chased, for example, by men with machetes who would come to associate all Somalis with Al Shabaab Abdi was terrified of being deported back to Somalia and he dreamed of a way to make it to the safest place he could imagine. America But the only possible route seemed like a moonshot Diversity lottery obviously is something everyone knows about, unless you're American Americans don't know anything about it The Lary program was the last desperate I had to try. The Diversity Visa program is an initiative the US government launched in the nineteen nineties to increase the cultural diversity of US immigration Now maybe you all don't know about this because frankly, I did not, but in countries all over the world, this program has been a really big deal In some years, for example, there were over twenty million applicants. Winners are randomly selected for only around fifty five thousand visas. so it's like the lottery of a lifetime, if you win Ubdy applied in twenty thirteen, and six months later, he went to an internet cafe to check the results Here's how we describe that moment back then to the BBC. I put my confirmation number I with my dad of birh and in And' thinking like this today, please. T me. Oh, serious So there was a few seconds of silence. You have been randomly selected for file processing and that's it. I realized that one. I walked out with these friends all you know, shouting behind me in front of me, holding my hands, shicking me And the guy who blinks to the internet caff also came out And you say you w, man, you got it, you got it. You very young. Wlcome to America, man, America's beautiful country. He' telling me all about America And that was really a very beautiful day for me Bbdy was twenty nine when he moved to the United States. He is now forty one And when we spoke recently, I could not resist playing him a clip of his first impressions So you win that visa lottery Ady and in twenty fourteen You arrive in Maine I think it's fair to say it is a pretty bright eyed young man. and I want to play you a clip of yourself from that time when you first arrived It was shortly after you came. you were speaking with the BBC reporter who made this documentary, Leo Hornck. So can I tell you some of the surprises that strikes me most I'm the only black on this rope But the good thing about it is that There's no razes of at all Diff friendly I love them. There's something called Uh Washing machine, a machine that washes the dishes It was a surprise to me and it's still a surprise to me I still Don't believe something is washing the dishes Okay, there's this place that we put the bread in and the bread gets heated. The toaster. Oh my go, that's it And you know what I just love more than everything else? It's out ice cream I never liked it that. I thought like it's a baby kind of thing. It's a woman kind of thing, but then now I act like a baby But And I was like, D make me fat? I want to be fat Come with me I was very skinny in my whole life I don't care A D. boy What do you think as you listen back to that Ud A little embarrassing, I guess. But yeah, It was quite a surprise But now that I know how everything works The appliances. The appliances. you know, I'm glad I listened to that because it brings back some memories Everything was brand new Hm But I'm not I'm not embarrassed. Come on You know, everybody has a place to start and I started right there. At the very beginning, you began by saying some of the things that surprised you. And it was not just about the technological appiances You say, I'm the only black on this road The good thing about it is that there's no racism at all So I still have a lot of respect for the neighbourors. H are actually very protective with everything else that's going on. They call me, they text me, they They want to make sure that I'm okay and saving. So there's a reason why I'm still in the neighbor. So nobody has so far now many years later has actually discriminated me based on my race Nobody has called the police on me yet Praisism I'm glad I said that, honestly, I'm very glad I said that because I just came from Kenya. where I knew discrimination and you hate Living is a Somalia in Kenya, you're right, rightight But now that I have my own car, I've lived here for over ten years I have experienced racism not necessarily in my neighborhood, but across the state I'm gonna say yes Absolutely, there phrases him now H. Upd to, what were those early days like in Maine Whereabouts are you living in Maine, by the way? Yeah. So Maine is kind of wild. it's wilderness. If you look at A anda, you see so many trees I live in a town called Yarmouth A lot of people know Portland, Portland is the biggest city and it's just fifteen minutes from here if I drive The early days depends on the weather. What time of year was it when you moved? August. The grass was still green. I thought wilderness. No. I've never seen anything like this in Somalia. It feels great. You know, deer and turkey and all the weird animals that America has And then all of a sudden trees change colorors, notothing like everything seen ever anywhere in Ser in Kenya And It was amazing watching that And snow has started did not know how to explain what I was feeling, the cold, the snow, the fluffiness of it to my mother She has never had a refrigerator She has no idea what a freezer looks like So I remember telling her Mom, it's like your own breath. You can see it. That's how c call it is. You might be tossing water up in the air in the freezes and my mother said, you're describing heaven M So one day, hopefully I, you know, my brother and I are actually trying our best to get her over here to at least experience snow before she dies Hmm So your first job was construction You were living in this kind of small town outside of Portland, Maine What was life like Construction in Somalia and Kenya means different things Here The material is weird. It's different The most interesting thing to me was insulation, this little itchy stve That was my job loading up bags full of that stuff And then here are Skeletons of main houses, just wood, nothing else To me, it wass just amazing. And then the other part is Basementobody has a basement in Somalayia, nobody has a basement in Kenya And I remember asking peopleeople in Maine, like, is that if a war breaks out, you run into the basement They laughed her and they said, no, my basement is part of the house, you know, And it was funny that I brought that up. So Udate, did you intend to continue doing construction or were you saving your money during that time period for something else? I was saving money for something else, which was school. I really wanted to go to school. Collge. College I went to community college And I worked hard. So from community college, I graduated to a four year college and that's how I got my bachelor' degree without ever finishing Finishing high school. What did you study Ey I studied Politic of science and international relations is my major So Adi You came to the U. S Much like many, many people come to the US, millions of people have come to America for opportunity as we say the American dream. And a core part of that American dream is the belief that you can reinvent yourself, that here in America, you can be anything you want to be When you came Did you change from the abi you were in Africa I actually think I become more connected who the ADA was back home I say that because one thing that scared me the most when I moved into the U S is I saw Young Somalis born in the U S unable to speak good Somali and Didentity wise feeling identity crisis going on in their minds And it made me think I should be glad that I speak English. but I'm also I should be more grateful that I h to where I come from to who I was So Ay, did you always feel when you first came? Did you instantly feel that connection with? with Somalia? becausecause you mentioned you loved watching the movies and you were so into American culture. And so when you came, did you instantly feel like you want to reconnect with your So only culture did that happen over time So first of all, I Take the courage. try to integrate. Let's say that word goingo out skiing E though my friends here Some my friends here in Maine keep telling me that's a white thing. stop going skiing. What do you mean hiking? What do you mean you went after You know, and I understand where they're coming from. But I'm not scared mostostly because I don't think integration steals anything from me I know how to bake pies now. America lo pies. Apple pie. Can you make that one? Apple pie, exactly. Yes. Even though pecan pie is my favorite. Oh yeah, fair enough, Fairad enough. Yeah. But after all, I'm American because I'm voting I don't know if So many Americans would agree with me when I say I' American because I've been told go back to your country. I've been told, you know, deport. I hear that where a lot, even though they have no idea. who I am and that I'm America, I'm a voter as a neatralized American citizen now. There's two sides of America. There's a side that disrespectful. wants to listen, wants to hear our stories wants to eat our food And then there's the other side that really feels where u pooisoning them, right I'm not using that word lightly. I've been told that before, you know, Bringing Shriia la into our neighborhood. It's like, what do you mean I've never mentioned I'll we it anywhere. I don't carry a microphone or run around and talk about Sharia And so yeah, it's's it's it We started talking about this earlier how much the American dream is connected with people's idea of economic opportunity that I'll have a life and that my children will have a life that is better than mine. that there's this idea of social mobility. And a key part of the American dream, I think for many people, has been wrapped up in in money and economic opportunity In the early days when you were getting your first jobs in Maine Did you feel like you were living that economic American dream No, because I don't own a house housing You know, it's considered a crisis in the United States. It's one of the difficult things It's a very messed up system obviously with who can own a house, who can buy a house. who can live this dream But that doesn't make me upset because now my mother has a house She's living with my sister and they're living in Somalia You sent her money all these years because of the money I send. When I say a house It's a Somali house, no refrigerator, no twenty four hour electricity U some guy delivers swater Wednes every week They think that's actually joy. Theyre like They're really happy Obviously, owning a house in the United States It' tough. It it requires wealth and most immigrants invest with their families and that's what I have done just Mom happier and made her and leave her have a knife is the American dream possible. I'm Am Makhalad, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC One of the most successful exports the United States has ever sold the world is the American Dream, that tantalizing promise of a better, freer, richer life But is it still attainable? I feel like the American dream is alive but not well For more, listen to the gllobal story on bc. com or wherever you get your podcast The twenty twenty six World Cups started with forty eight teams and we've now reached the knockout stage. Records have been broken. The way that Messy has been able to score these goals late in his career. It happenage Unbroken records is the consequence for him And new heroes have emerged This country's caught the fever. Casual fans are now die hard fans More than the score podcast is bringing you the stories beyond the score lines More than the score from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts The United States is about to mark its two hundred fiftieth anniversary. And so on the global story podcast from the BBC, we're telling surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives all across the globe. We have this ability to export our story, and a lot of people bought it. I feel like the American Dream is alive, but not well Wr from the BBC, it's the United States at two hundred fifty. Listen on BbC. com or wherever you get your podcasts What happened the first time the World Cup came to the US? International soccer was basically unknown to the average American sports fan. A tournament full of showbies, star names, and two miss penalties that became famous around the world It was very, very unfortunate for both Badi and for Bajil that they missed the penalties. That was an injustice really. Join me Lee James on more than the score as we step back in time to USA ninety four the story is beyond the scorelines, more than the score from the BBC World Service Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts a few years after you arrived, Donald Trump first entered the White House. He won the presidency And S. directed quite a bit of ire towards Somalia immigrants. He instituted a travel ban that put restrictions on people coming in from Somalia during his campaign. I think Is Hates us He had a lot of negative comments directed towards Muslims writ large during that campaign cycle There's something there that there's a tremendous hatred there. And spoke about them as a threat to American life, American society. And we have to be very vigilant We have to be very careful And we can't allow people coming into this country who have this hatred What was that time like for you Gosh. yeah. You know, not only did he say those things, but he also came to me And he made a speech directly attack the Somalis direct I remember feeling The same care. trauma that I felt in Kenya and they came presidents ordering smelles to be deported and how shaky and scary and completely devastated I was sort of feeling like I never never sell it In America, I would feel that way Never. I thought I escaped when I left Ken. Yeah. I escaped that that fear Did you feel at that time people treated you any differently as a Somalia immigrate There were a few events that I went to when someone said Are you happy with the American way of life or something like that? And I said, well, clarify. what are we talking about here? Like, are you happy to see church Or do you want to see more mosques? Someone someomeone said that at one point And I said If you're really thinking, I want church go down, a mosque built up If you're thinking that way, no I love diversity. I want to see Church humumble Mosk. E So people people did begin to say things to you differently. Oh yeah. you would say during that time period. Oh yeah. I think it's a Trump narrative that makes people feel scared because Trump said something like they don't integrate You know feel like peopleeople who listen to him immediately fellt Oh, okay, so the Samalas are actually moving in to take over. Soie, we're talking to you now at a moment in which Donald Trump is back in the White House for this second term And one of the policy changes he has made around immigration is that he has paused the visa lottery program Noobody's coming through the visa lottery, which is the same program I came into the US. I am lucky that I'm here becausecause if it was now, When I was going through my interview and you know everything else I am you know, one hundred percent sure that I would be locked out right now I feel really bad for all the other immigrants overseas H St dreamed of America American ideas the same way I did who got completely locked out now because of the Trump administration's immigration process How has Your life different. in the United States in this second term of the Trump administration. I lost my full time job I had this amazing job the nonprofit that supports immigrants. And I personally Ukrainians and refugees. from Ukraine when the war broke out. And I was working with the organization at the time. It's called Church Well Service. And Afghanistan, when the withdrawal happened and sow a lot of people were stunded I was enjoying doing that job quite a lot And so what have I lost since Trump was elected? I lost my job, I lost my health insurance So you lost your job because this was a Was this a refugee resettlement agency? Yeah. So Trump, President Trump cut funding from the organization the organization lost funding federal funding. Oh wow. What exactly was your job? What did you do? I was a communication specialist I trained Cients on storytelling It was qu quite an interesting and amazing job that I was doing. When did that happen? by the way, I should ask, when was that I received the layoff email as early as February So it's been a few months now. Yeah. How are you doing But you know, fine, I guess. I miss my job. I miss my friends, but I speak. I do speaking engagements as well I work with local small nonprofits as I train young folks to tell their stories. the writing storytelling So I stay busy, luckily I stay pretty busy Losing his job is not the only significant thing that has changed for the during President Trump's second term. Last December, the Somali community in Minnesota became headline news after a series of fraud allegations Minnesota is reeling from a fraud scandal involving one billion dollars, siphoned from multiple federal programs during the COVID pandemic. Theft of federal funds and corruption by individuals particularly within the Somali community This has put those from that community in the spotlight. A number of people have now pled guilty in relation to the scandal, and it became a national political issue in part because President Trump waighited in I don't want them in our country. Thatir country iss no good for a reason The country stinks Upi had strong views on this story, so he decided to do several media interviews, and he was critical of the actions of some Somali Americans Here he is on Fox News. It makes me think, why don't we look at ourselves, right I say Okay, whether the president is right or wrong It's that time that we have to think of went for frag You know, seection eight fraud, autism fraud, that my community is heavily involved. Nobody's talking about it Upday says he did these interviews because the fraud upset him and he wanted to hear someone in his community call it out as a problem. But that fraud story is not happening in isolation It's happening in the context of a live active political debate about what it means to be an American And who gets to be an American And so I wanted to know what Ubdee specifically thought about President Trump's criticism of Somalis I pulled up a video of the president at a cabinet meeting in December And we listen to him together The country stinks And we don't want them in our country. I could say that about other countries too I can say it about other countries too. We don't want them to helpll. We got to We have to rebuild our country You know, our country iss at a tipping point We could go bad. We're at a tipping point I don't know if people mind me saying that, but I'm saying that We could go one way or the other And We're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country When you hear that Do you still feel like the American dream is alive for someone like you I think what I just heard is a betrayal to my American dream been called garbage you know, after after all I've been through It's clearly a betrayal to my American dream, the way I see America Al awware that M Americans agree with him on that some problem, mayaybe Money agree with him, but also many more. Doesn't agree with him on that? Do you feel welcome Under Trump, no. Trump's house, no And Trump's leadership no but I feel welcome in some parts of America I've asked you a lot of different ways, I guess, about the American dream because It's a shorthand for the allure of the United States Do you feel like the American dream? is alive and well. I feel like the American dream is alive but not well