Second generation Somali origin children's understanding and organization of their multiple identities

The younger generation of the Somali community has faced certain hardships, in part, as a result the contradiction between their identities at home and their identities in public. The focus of this research was on the saliency of second generation Somali origin children's multiple identities. The 10 children between the ages of 5-10 that were interviewed indicated that they considered their Muslim identity their strongest identity, followed by their Somali identity, then their Black identity and lastly their Canadian identity. Their reasons for choosing the Muslim identity first were due to culture and religion. Their reasons for choosing the Somali identity second was due to the fact that Somalia is their parent's birth place. As for the black identity some of the participants stated reasons related to skin colour as to why they chose this identity while others considered this an identity that did not apply to them. Lastly, they chose the Canadian identity because Canada is their birth place and place of residence. The implications of this study are that both parents and teachers need to be actively encouraging the formation of children's racial and national identity.