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

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2009

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “A New Season”

Part 2, Chapter 10 Summary: “I Want to Be Part of the Fugees”

Players and parents eagerly await tryouts for the Fugees’ new season. Coach Luma worries about her rosters, wondering if established veterans will return and how newcomers will fit into the existing team. Experience tells her she needs at least one third of the team to set an example for the rest of the team, especially the third she anticipates will have emotional, psychological, or social issues as a result of trauma. She particularly worries about the under-15 team, which contains talented but rebellious players who are particularly susceptible to peer pressure and gang influence. Tryouts are held at the field behind Indian Creek Elementary School, a common gathering spot for refugee families. Despite the chaos, Luma holds rigorous tryouts. At the end, she gives the players contracts ensuring their strict adherence to her rules.

Part 2, Chapter 11 Summary: “Figure It Out so You Can Fix It”

Luma establishes a rule forcing players to cut their hair, believing it will protect her players from discrimination from other teams and knowing the players’ mothers support it. A Liberian striker named Prince refuses to cut his hair, and Luma forbids him from joining the team until he complies, causing other players such as Mandela Ziaty to act out in rebellion.

As the season progresses, Luma tries to improve their field by obtaining proper goals—she is promised assistance by the YMCA, but they ultimately take back the donated goals. Luma’s practices are physically taxing, and she demands concentration and good behavior from her players. Mandela’s mother, Beatrice Ziaty, is grateful for the positive influence of the team’s strict rules, keeping her son away from gang activity.

Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary: “Meltdown”

Because of the state of their field, the Fugees host their home games at a field 15 minutes away. Luma arranges for a bus to transport the under-15 team to their first game. The bus shows up late with only nine players, and the driver explains that only one of the boys was on time. Mandela Ziaty uses author Warren St. John’s phone to contact three more players, and St. John drives with Ziaty to pick the boys up. Luma refuses to make eye contact with or speak to the players. The boys try to organize themselves to play but lose the game 7-2. Luma explains to St. John that, frustrated by the boys’ apathy and disrespect, her refusal to coach mirrors their bad behavior. Luma announces that she’s canceling the rest of their season.

Part 2, Chapter 13 Summary: “How Am I Going to Start All Over?”

Kanue Biah, a 15-year-old Liberian refugee, takes the cancellation of the under-15 team’s season especially hard. Kanue lives with his uncle Barlea, who works two jobs in order to pay their bills and send money back to family in Ivory Coast and Guinea. Because of his uncle’s demanding schedule, Kanue is responsible for keeping their tiny apartment clean and cooking their meals. After joining the team mid-season, Kanue has become one of the most important and reliable players on the Fugees. Kanue asks Luma to reinstate the season for the dedicated players, like himself. When Luma points out that the roster will still be short, he offers to recruit new players to fill it, and Luma agrees to a tryout. The under-13s, fearing cancellation of their own season, unite to win their third game 5-1.

Part 2, Chapter 14 Summary: “Alex, Bien, and Ive”

One year after their arrival in Clarkston, Generose Ntwari struggles to support her sons, Alex, Bien, and Ive, and her infant daughter, Alysha. The family welcomes author Warren St. John to their home during the course of his research, providing elaborate meals that the family would not ordinarily enjoy. On his first visit, Generose shows St. John a threatening bill from The New York Times (who employs St. John). St. John discovers that the family has been billed as a result of a mistake by a third-party distributor. He uncovers predatory marketing tactics by companies taking advantage of refugees’ unfamiliarity with telemarketing and lower facility with English. Generose, who speaks little English, has been unemployed since giving birth and is unsure of when she’ll work again. Nevertheless, she remains hopeful and assures her family of her faith in God.

Part 2, Chapter 15 Summary: “Trying Again”

The Fugees’ sponsors at the Decatur-DeKalb YMCA are furious to learn that Luma has canceled the under-15 team’s season. The YMCA officials worry about the reputation of the league, believing that because they sponsor the team, they have sole authority to continue or cancel the season. Luma expresses frustration with the YMCA’s failed promises, such as the goals that never appeared and the unreliable bus services. Luma also struggles with exhaustion and feels that canceling the season would be beneficial to her health.

On the day of tryouts, Kanue and the other potential players gather at 5:30 p.m. before Luma arrives at 6:00. Six are returning players, and 10 are new. The players seem determined to prove themselves and convince Luma to restart the season. Luma shares her rules again and tells the boys to meet for practice on Thursday.

Part 2, Chapter 16 Summary: “The Fifteens Fight”

To help the under-15 players unite as a team, Luma brings in the under-17 team for a scrimmage. She expects the under-15s to lose but wants to observe their attitudes during the game. Fornatee Tarpeh, a former under-15 who refused to try out for the new team, comes to the scrimmage to apologize and try to win back his place on the team. Luma tells him to wait until after the game to plead his case. At halftime, the game is tied. When the under-17s take the lead in the second half, Kanue loses his temper. After the game, Luma looks for Fornatee, but he has left.

Frustrated with the ill-equipped practice field, Luma asks Mayor Swaney for permission to practice at Milam Park. Swaney tells Luma it isn’t his decision and to ask the city council for permission.

Part 2, Chapter 17 Summary: “Go Fugees!”

Luma wakes up anxious and nauseous on the day of the under-15 team’s first game. She worries that reinstating the season is setting the team up for failure. To her relief, the bus arrives on time with a full roster. Kanue leads the team in warmups. Their opponents are AFC Lightning, a mostly white team whose players look much older than the Fugees. The Lightning take an early lead, but Kanue works hard to manage the team’s emotions, and by halftime, the Fugees are leading 2-1, thanks to Mandela. Luma knows the defense will mark Mandela in the second half and encourages him to pass the ball to his open teammates. The strategy works, and a new player named Muamer scores a goal. The Fugees win the game 4-2, to the surprise and delight of Luma.

Part 2, Chapter 18 Summary: “Gunshots”

The day after the under-15 team’s win, a shooting occurs behind Indian Creek Elementary school, very near the Fugees’ practice grounds. Tito, a 15-year-old Liberian refugee who had recently begun practicing with the Fugees, is shot in the face and critically injured. Witnesses say that Tito had been walking with other Liberian refugees when he came across an African American teenager and his mother, and the confrontation turned violent. It is discovered that Tito is aligned with a gang called the Africans. Luma dismisses Tito from the team. Her primary concern is the safety of the team, who she fears are now associated with the gang. She no longer feels safe at the Indian Creek Elementary field, and practices are canceled. She prepares for the city council meeting with new urgency.

Part 2, Chapter 19 Summary: “Getting Over It”

St. John explores Clarkston institutions that have adapted to and benefited from the town’s cultural changes. At the advice of one of his Vietnamese employees, Thriftown owner Bill Mehlinger begins stocking foods catering to Clarkston’s refugee communities. The store thrives, and Mehlinger hires employees from every ethnic group of refugees in Clarkston. The flailing Clarkston Baptist Church rebrands as Clarkston International Baptist Church and begins offering services aimed at Liberians, Ethiopians, and other groups of immigrant Christians. Tony J. Scipio, a Black man of Trinidadian descent, becomes chief of police and institutes major reforms, including diversity training, which is unpopular. He also fires and arrests Timothy Jordan, the officer that assaulted Chike Chime. St. John interprets these actions as evidence that top-down efforts to enforce diversity are less effective than organic instances of people working together to support their interests.

Part 2, Chapter 20 Summary: “The ‘Soccer People’”

In an interview with author Warren St. John, Mayor Swaney struggles to articulate his position on soccer in public parks. First, he claims there are no fields, and then he claims the problem is with adults playing soccer before finally conceding that he might allow children under 12 to play if supervised. St. John believes he is caving to his conservative constituents, who have more voting power.

At the city council meeting, it is revealed that Mayor Swaney’s rule against dogs at Milam Park has no basis in law—an important detail supporting the Fugees’ claim that a ban on soccer in the park is similarly unlawful. Luma makes her case to the council: Indian Creek Elementary is not safe, and the city would benefit from her athletes being allowed to practice in Milam Park rather than on the street. Mayor Swaney recommends the idea, and the city council agrees to a six-month trial.

Part 2, Chapter 21 Summary: “Playing on Grass”

Luma holds meetings with the under-13s and under-15s to discuss the dangers of gangs with Chief Scipio. Surprised at how much the boys know about how to join gangs, she explains that although they may seem to offer protection, gangs actually endanger the boys and their families. Luma tells the boys about the new field and explains that they have a responsibility to set a good example for the town and future teams. The first practice on the lush field at Milam Park, surrounded by nature, is a joy for Fugees. Despite their good behavior, the team is questioned by an older man who claims they can’t practice without a permit. Although St. John explains that the mayor has given permission, the man insists that they need a permit.

Part 2 Analysis

In the second section of Outcasts United, St. John emerges as an active participant in the action of the story. The episodes featuring St. John interacting directly with the Fugees and the people of Clarkston demonstrate the likeability of the players and the resistance of Clarkston residents to deal with anyone but other white people. Despite St. John’s insistence on “journalistic detachment” (129), his interactions with the team, their families, and the other Clarkston residents blur the lines of objectivity and reveal his own sentiments about the conflicts between the Fugees and the people of Clarkston. Chapter 12, “Meltdown,” describes the final game of the original under-15 team, which Luma refuses to coach after several players arrive late. At the start of the game, when Mandela approaches St. John for help, St. John briefly wonders if his involvement breaches the ethics and integrity of journalism—his primary concern is “what Luma [will] think—if [his] helping Mandela round up his teammates might in her eyes look as though [he is] enabling their truancy” (130). St. John’s concern with Luma’s coaching strategies and the professionalization of the Fugees demonstrates his emotional involvement with the team. St. John’s actions at this moment—lending Mandela his phone and agreeing to drive around collecting his teammates and delivering them to the game—contrast with Luma’s inaction. She remains “far removed from the action and offering no instruction to the team” as a coaching strategy (129). The fact that St. John develops an intense emotional connection with the team despite his awareness of journalistic boundaries demonstrates his growing connection to and emotional investment in the players and their families.

In Chapters 20 and 21, St. John’s interactions with older, white, conservative residents of Clarkston struggling to reconcile their experience of the town’s past with its diverse present highlight The Systemic Obstacles Facing Refugees in the United States. St. John’s narrative makes it clear that the older, white, conservative residents of Clarkston hold the most sway over local elections, resulting in the city council privileging their perspective. St. John’s interview with Mayor Swaney reveals his frustration with the Clarkston establishment: He describes the mayor’s arguments against soccer as “a red herring” and accuses the Mayor of “changing his argument on the fly” (189). Ultimately, he decides that it is “highly unlikely that anyone [can] meet the mayor’s freshly conceived criteria” because they “[exist] only in his head, where they [can] be altered later if necessary” (190). The fact that these explicit criticisms of Clarkston’s highest-level politician come from the author’s personal experience heightens their impact in the narrative. In Chapter 21, St. John intervenes when an elderly white man interrupts the Fugees’ first practice at Milam Park, and the final section of the chapter is dedicated to their conversation. Ultimately, the man (whom St. John leaves unnamed) stops harassing the Fugees only after St. John explains that they have permission from the city to practice. The fact that the man accepts St. John’s explanation—but not that of the players or coach—demonstrates the town’s resistance to cultural and demographic changes, underpinned by implicit racial and xenophobic bias. Although St. John expresses sympathy for the man, he ultimately presents him as a relic of the past, “the ruin of some ancient stadium” (202). These personal episodes reveal St. John’s own perspective on the people of Clarkston and their resistance to their refugee neighbors.

As this review of St. John’s interactions with locals suggests, the town of Clarkston emerges as a kind of villain in the second section of the book—an obstacle for the Fugees to overcome alongside their opponents on the field. In particular, St. John provides subtle and explicit criticism of Clarkston institutions wielding power over the Fugees, such as the Decatur-Dekalb YMCA and the Clarkston City Council. Chapter 11 describes how even though “the Fugees’ sponsors at the Decatur-Dekalb YMCA had received a $9,100 grant to supply the Fugees with uniforms, equipment, and goals” (114), the Fugees’ practice field at Indian Creek Elementary has no goalposts when the season begins. Even when Luma’s incessant requests lead to the team finally obtaining goalposts, the YMCA quickly changes its mind and takes the goals back. Another time, “on successive nights […] the YMCA bus [fails] to show up after practice, leaving Luma to ferry two teams worth of players home” (150). Luma argues that “the YMCA would never simply forget to send a bus to take home the well-to-do American kids in its other athletic programs” (150), especially not if it had been given a grant specifically to do so. These examples suggest that despite their public statements supporting refugees, officials at the YMCA fail to back up those statements with action, actively impeding the Fugees’ progress. Indeed, St. John’s narrative suggests that the Fugees are succeeding despite the efforts of Clarkston, not because of them.

St. John broadens the scope of his narrative to include additional Clarkston institutions not directly involved with Luma and the Fugees, such as the Clarkston police, to highlight the systemic nature of the obstacles facing refugee communities. Chapter 19 describes how Clarkston Police Chief Tony Scipio enacted sweeping reforms within his department, including diversity training and stricter enforcement of violations. As a result, “three officers quit by the end of Scipio’s first week on the job [and] by the end of the first month, four more were gone” (179). This information adds important context to the book’s discussion of refugee interactions with police that provide a clear basis for refugee communities suspicion and distrust of law enforcement. St. John’s depiction of Clarkston City Council is similarly bleak. When two consecutive issues brought to the council are revealed to be the result of political overstep, St. John suggests that “those who [govern] Clarkston [have] a tendency to overreach their authority, at least until called to account by the citizens” (192), providing a damning assessment of the Clarkston government. When paired with St. John’s criticism of Mayor Swaney, these examples suggest that at this point in their journey, the team is flourishing despite the efforts of the city, underscoring The Value of Organized Sports for Young People and the need for systemic change within institutions that have the power to facilitate and support such programs.