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Originally from Tanzania and Mozambique, the Bantu were enslaved by Arab sultans during the 18th and 19th centuries and taken to Somalia. Treated as second-class citizens, the Bantu were denied education and political representation. Many worked as farmers or laborers, living in primitive huts.
In 1991, Somalia plunged into a civil war that divided the country into feuding clans. Thousands of persecuted Bantu fled to neighboring Kenya, where they lived in refugee camps while the United Nations scrambled to find countries that would allow them to immigrate.

About 80 families were approved by the U.S. Catholic Conference to move to Amarillo in 2004.  Since then, O'Neill said, a few hundred Bantu have migrated to the Texas Panhandle from other states.

On the Somali Bantu Association Web page, the leaders thank the United States of America for the opportunity of a new life. "Amongst the 14,000 who have resettled in the United States," the home page message reads, "we are the most fortunate to have resettled in Amarillo, Texas, which has a good climate."

And good people, Sebtow said. "The people of Amarillo have been very friendly."

Read more about Somali arrival in Amarillo at  http://www.amarillo.com/stories/041804/fea_wonder.shtml