Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference

Luma al-Mufleh was born to a wealthy industrialist family in Amman, Jordan. Although her family was close and affectionate, her parents also placed high expectations on Luma. As the oldest child, she was expected to marry well, remain close to home, and always bring honor to her family. From an early age, Luma felt trapped by these expectations. She found some freedom in sports (volleyball in particular) at her prestigious American school. Under the leadership of Coach Brown, Luma became a star player and a volunteer coach for the junior varsity team. She followed her parents’ example in attending college in the United States. After a year in upstate New York, she settled at Smith College in Massachusetts. Luma enjoyed the freedom she experienced at Smith and decided not to return to Jordan. When she told her family, her father cut her off financially and emotionally. Disoriented and lonely, Luma moved from North Carolina to Boston before settling in Atlanta, Georgia.

Beatrice Ziaty was a pregnant mother of three living in Monrovia, Liberia, when the civil war began in 1997. Her family was targeted as a result of her husband’s job, and Beatrice was forced to flee the city with her three oldest boys. Eventually, her husband as killed. After five years at a refugee camp, the family was accepted for refugee resettlement in America. They were given a loan for one-way tickets to Atlanta and assigned a caseworker, who met them at the airport and took them to a sparsely furnished apartment. The family received three months of government assistance, but Beatrice quickly found a job as a maid in Atlanta. Now, her hour-long commute means she gets home well after dark. On her way home after her first day, Beatrice was mugged, and all of her new documents were stolen. Later, her son was questioned by police for playing outside alone. Beatrice is anxious about her family’s safety in their new home.

Prior to the arrival of refugees, Clarkston, Georgia, was a town of 7,200 people 13 miles outside of Atlanta. The town was an archetypal Southern conservative town, anchored by its many churches. In the 1970s, Clarkston experienced urban decay along with many Southern small towns. Cheap rentals, proximity to Atlanta, and extensive public transport made Clarkston an ideal spot for refugee relocation in the 1980s. More than 19,000 refugees were resettled in Georgia between 1996 and 2001, many of them in Clarkston. At first, white locals accepted these newcomers and Clarkston’s demographic changes, but eventually their concerns caused many white residents to withdraw from the community. When the resettlement of 700 Somali Bantu refugees was announced, residents protested, worrying that these refugees would not be able to assimilate given their historical trauma and presumed lack of education. A town hall meeting between resettlement agencies and Clarkston residents quickly devolved into chaos, with both sides growing defensive. Hostility to refugees in Clarkston has continued to grow.

In the nearby town of Decatur, Luma takes a job as the coach of a YMCA girls soccer team. Following the example of Coach Brown, Luma demands personal responsibility from her athletes. After two difficult seasons, Luma’s team has an undefeated third season and wins their year-end tournament. Coaching helps to distract Luma from her homesickness, but she grows increasingly lonely. One night, Luma discovers a Middle Eastern market in Clarkston; she returns many times to buy foods that remind her of home. One night, she finds a group of boys playing soccer in the parking lot. Intrigued by the group’s diversity, she asks if she can play with them. These pick-up games become a part of her routine and give her a sense of community. As she learns more about the people of Clarkston, she decides to start a soccer team for refugee boys. The local YMCA agrees to pay for a field and equipment. Luma advertises the tryouts in multiple languages.

Beatrice’s son, Jeremiah Ziaty, feels particularly excited to try out for the team, despite his mother’s warning to stay inside when she’s at work. Tryouts are held at the Clarkston community center frequented by refugee families, much to the chagrin of some locals. Jeremiah arrives to tryout with only one shoe. When one of the other boys doubts Luma’s ability to coach because of her gender, she aims a perfect shot at him in goal. Beatrice demands a meeting with Luma, who agrees to drive Jeremiah to and from practice so he’s not walking alone. Luma learns more about her players’ backgrounds and their unique traumas, and she works to counter their ingrained prejudices. She insists on tutoring for all players and helps their families navigate unfamiliar systems and paperwork. Luma decides to stop coaching the girls’ team, close her restaurant, file for bankruptcy, and dedicate her life to supporting refugee families in Clarkston. At last, she begins to feel a sense of community.

Paula Balegamire arrived in Clarkston in 2004 with her six children, having escaped the second civil war in the Congo. Her husband, Joseph, remained in the Congo, incarcerated as a political prisoner. The Congo Free State was founded in 1884 by King Leopold II of Belgium in order to enrich himself through the production of natural resources like rubber and ivory. Between five and 10 million locals were killed over the next 20 years. In 1960, the Republic of Congo was granted independence under Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. However, the many ethnic groups and tribes constituting the new nation quickly fell into conflict, and Lumumba was assassinated by Commander Joseph Mobutu. Mobutu’s violent dictatorship lasted 30 years, until he was taken down by a coalition led by Laurent Kabila and Anseleme Masausu. When the coalition split, Kabila persecuted allies of Masausu, including the imprisoned Joseph Balegamire. The UN expedited Paula’s refugee paperwork, and she fled with her children to Clarkston.

Bienvenue (known as Bien) Ntwari arrives in Clarkston with his mother, Generose, and his brothers, Alex and Ive, after fleeing violence in Burundi. In the decades since European colonization, the Tutsi minority in Rwanda has dominated the Hutu majority politically and socially. In 1993, the country’s first Hutu leader was assassinated four months after his election, and violence broke out. In the 10-year civil war that followed, 300,000 people died. Bien’s family fled to a refugee camp in Mozambique before being resettled in Clarkston. On his first morning in Clarkston, Bien meets Grace Balegamire and is relieved to find a friend who speaks Swahili. Grace tells Bien about the Fugees. Although it is mid-season, Luma agrees to let Bien practice with the team. She intentionally stops cliques from forming among boys like Grace and Bien who speak the same language. The team faces some hostility from their opponents but responds by developing deeper emotional and social bonds as a community.

In January 2006, Nigerian immigrant Chike Chime was pulled over by Clarkston police officer Timothy Jordan. Officer Jordan has a troubled past: Fired from his previous precinct for excessive force, Jordan is known for his temper. Chike has been in the United States for 15 years and has a successful insurance business. Looking back on the incident with Jordan, Chike speculates that his newly leased car was the impetus for his arrest. Jordan approached Chike’s car with a heavy baton-like flashlight, which was not issued by the precinct. When Chike claimed that he was not speeding, Jordan slammed Chike against the side of the car and then onto the ground. He hit him over the head with the baton and pepper sprayed him. Chike was arrested and locked in jail; unfamiliar with the prison system, he was unaware that he could be released on bail and remained there over the weekend. Throughout the incident, Jordan referred derogatorily to Chike as an African.

Emanual Ransom, a community center board member who has long resented the refugee community, insists that the YMCA sponsoring the Fugees pay more for the use of their field. The dispute escalates until the Fugees are no longer welcome to practice at the community center. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Nyok, a 26-year-old Sudanese refugee, organizes a soccer team for young adults in Clarkston. Nathaniel, who is one of the Sudanese Lost Boys, receives permits for his Lost Boys soccer team to practice at Armistead Park. However, their practices are routinely interrupted by Clarkston police, who insist they leave the park. When a local reporter investigates the story, Clarkston Mayor Swaney declares that soccer is banned in the park. Nathaniel feels certain that the sport is banned because it is favored by the refugee community. As a result of this conflict, the Fugees must also find a new field. They finally settle in the chaotic field behind Indian Creek Elementary School.