The spotlight is still on us.

The Dec. 11 edition of The New Yorker magazine examines the phenomenon of “The Somalis of Lewiston.” It treads along well-worn paths: The immigration. The letter. The rallies. The racism. The pig’s head.

Three years after Lewiston earned international attention, observers still consider us a cultural petri dish. The caption of the article’s lead photograph sums this nicely: “The Somali refugees’ improbable migration has turned into a large-scale social experiment.”

Journalists, like for the New Yorker, will spend days immersed in the Somali community to detail its social and tribal conflicts. Prospective authors are contemplating studying the evolving patterns of Lewiston’s social fabric; social scientists have endeavored to quantify the tensions between American-born and Somalis in the city.

If Lewiston’s landscape is such a compelling study for outsiders, so should it be for us. Two efforts – one complete and one just starting – are evidence there’s much to learn about this community’s changing face.

A recent study of housing in Lewiston has found landlords and tenants are woefully unaware of Maine’s discrimination laws, an issue exacerbated by the growth of an immigrant population. The last study of Lewiston housing came in 1997; a fresh look at the trends was long overdue.

Also, the city of Lewiston and the Maine Department of Labor are starting research on employment potential for Lewiston’s immigrant population, which involves compiling work force and general assistance data to design effective future employment programs for immigrants.

Lewiston’s immigrant population is estimated at 3,000, with 500 able to work, and 200 employed. City officials call these figures “rough” and “anecdotal.”

It’s a concern to hear Steven Wessler, the director of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence, say recently L-A is regressing in its relations with the Somali immigrants, including a proliferation of racially charged confrontations. Thankfully, Wessler finds the region’s children are setting an example of tolerance that adults should follow.

The “social experiment” of Lewiston will continue to attract journalists, academics and pundits to the Twin Cities. So will the occasional flare-ups of intolerance, such as the pig’s head incident, which again cast the harsh national spotlight upon the city.

The New Yorker isn’t the last. Other national publications are rumored to be sniffing around for tasty tidbits of information and insight for their audiences. Some in City Hall have come to anticipate – and laugh – when the messages from outlets like CNN, The Washington Post and New Yorker arrive.

But neither City Hall, nor anyone in this community, should learn about Lewiston through the eyes, images or words of an outsider. If the world is going to continue to scrutinize the city, the city must continually scrutinize itself. The two studies mentioned are small steps in an ongoing, evolving and critical self-analysis.

The world’s spotlight may someday fade.

The spotlight we cast on ourselves, though, never should.