Analysis Of Warren St. John's Outcast United

Outcast United, written by warren St. John, illustrates the numerous struggles refugees face and how they can look past complex differences and come together with a little help from Luma Mufleh and her soccer program. The outcast united is used symbolically to indicate the union of a town, a team and a coach in a spontaneous social experiment. It is a story about refugees from Sudan, Congo, and Burundi among other countries who were resettled in a small town named Clarkston. In this book, St. John tells a true story of refugee families that moved to Clarkston, Georgia. As all of the families struggle to make their new and better life in the small town of Clarkston, Georgia, Luma Mufleh changed the refugee community of Clarkston for the better

Warren St.John reports on the story of one woman who impacted her community in more ways than she probably realized. Luma Mufleh is a young woman originally from Jordan, who came to America for college and moved to Clarkston, Georgia. As a lover of soccer, she worked at the YMCA until she met a group of boys who showed more passion for the sport than anyone she had ever coached before. These kids were the refugees whose families had to move to America to escape wars in their homelands. They were looking for better place to live and economic opportunities. These kids and their families were caught somewhere between the cultures of their native homes and the new ways of life that was presented by America. Luma noticed the natural talent in all of these kids. She noticed the love for the game of soccer in these kids. She made a team called the Fugees. Fugees came from the refugees. Luma trained the kids with the strict discipline like mandatory practice, cardio and tough attitude. She told if someone misses more two game sessions you are off the team (St.John 109). On the field, Luma faced bigger challenges. “When Luma told kids to divide up into the groups for drills, they would instinctively divide themselves according to their ethnic backgrounds or common languages. In scrimmages, boys would overlook open teammates to pass their own kind. And each group, she learned, had its own prejudices toward others” (St.John 60).

This affected their performance in schools. The government resettled refugees in Clarkston and failed to provide its people with enough resources to sustain them. Luma had to build a school for the refugees. Children in Luma’s soccer team had to ask her for assistance in their homework. This is the time Luma realized that the refugees were facing non-school factors, which challenged their school life. She started a school for refugees by the name Fugees Academy. In this new school the refugees would get peace of mind and at least feel at home since there is no discrimination. Luma teaches them how to work hard and passionately in everything they do. She also teaches them how to be respectful to others regardless of their race. The white people decided to transfer their kids to other schools in other cities since they considered education in Clarkston to be second-class and bad. Instead of cooking for a solution as a community they are escaping from them this makes it so hard to solve their problems. Other factors that makes refugees lives hard is the racism. The police harass dark skinned people for example; police stopped Chike Chime who was driving his car claiming that he was over speeding when he was not. Misuse of power to mistreat the less fortunate has made it difficult for people to unite and solve the problem they are facing