Minnesota's Diverse Communities: Experiences of discrimination in the state today

by ALYSON CLARY | October 20, 2021

Forty-five percent of Minnesotan adults believe that discrimination “generally speaking” exists against their racial or ethnic group. The same proportion, 45%, believes that their racial or ethnic group is either often or sometimes discriminated against when applying for jobs. Roughly one-third of Minnesotans believe that their racial or ethnic group is subject to discrimination by the police or in the housing market, and 17% believe their group is discriminated against when trying to vote.

Perceptions of discrimination against a respondent’s racial or ethnic group varies dramatically between Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) in Minnesota on the one hand, and White Minnesotans on the other. While a substantial proportion, 38%, of Whites perceive that discrimination exists against their fellow White Minnesotans “in general” and when applying for jobs, that is less than half the proportion of all BIPOC Minnesotans who perceive discrimination against people of their racial or ethnic groups.

The proportion of BIPOC Minnesotans perceiving discrimination against people of their racial or ethnic background by the police, in the housing market, or while voting is nearly three times the proportion of White Minnesotans who believe that Whites often or sometimes experience discrimination in these realms of life.

Notably, perceptions of many forms of racial and ethnic discrimination are in the 80 and 90 percent realm for Black and Indigenous adults, with proportions nearly as high among Latinx and Hmong Minnesotans.

A somewhat lower proportion of Minnesotans indicates personally experiencing direct racial or ethnic discrimination when applying for jobs, by the police, when renting or purchasing housing, or when trying to vote. Experiences with discrimination vary dramatically by race, with the proportion of BIPOC Minnesotans experiencing discrimination in employment (44%) four times that of White Minnesotans (11%). BIPOC Minnesotans are more than seven times as likely to experience discrimination from the police, and eight times more likely to have faced housing discrimination, as compared to White Minnesotans.

As with perceptions of discrimination, experiences with discrimination are particularly prevalent among Black and Indigenous adults, again followed closely by Latinx and Hmong adults.

These results are discussed in greater detail in the sections that follow.

1. General perceptions of discrimination

2. Targeted by racial or ethnic slurs

3. Police discrimination

4. Employment discrimination

5. Housing discrimination

6. Voting discrimination

Minnesotans’ general perceptions of discrimination in the state

Survey results show that three-quarters of BIPOC Minnesotans (78%) believe members of their racial or ethnic group are discriminated against in Minnesota, while more than one-third of White Minnesotans (38%) also believe there is currently discrimination against White people in Minnesota.

Looking more closely at specific racial and ethnic groups, nine out of 10 Black Minnesotans believe there is discrimination against Black people, as a whole, in the state today. This is the highest proportion of all racial and ethnic groups surveyed. But Black Minnesotans are closely followed by Indigenous Minnesotans, 85% of whom believe there is discrimination against their community in Minnesota today.

Sixty-one percent of immigrants living in Minnesota believe there is discrimination against members of their racial or ethnic group, statistically tied with the proportion who are not themselves immigrants but are children of immigrants. A significantly smaller portion of those who are neither immigrants nor children of immigrants indicate that discrimination against their racial or ethnic group exists.

Looking at the data based on political affiliation or leaning, the results are especially intriguing. Sixty-eight percent of Republicans in Minnesota believe there is racial discrimination against the racial and ethnic groups to which they belong in comparison to 50% of political independents and 28% of Democrats.

We also analyzed these results by both political affiliation or leaning AND racial or ethnic identity to gain further insight into these trends.

Unsurprisingly a majority of BIPOC Minnesotans believe members of their race or ethnicity experience racial discrimination, regardless of political affiliation: 61% of BIPOC Republicans, 68% of BIPOC political independents and 83% of BIPOC Democrats believe that discrimination against members of their racial or ethnic group exists in Minnesota today.

While BIPOC Republicans answer this question affirmatively at a significantly lower rate than BIPOC Democrats, the reverse trend holds true for White Republicans and White Democrats. Sixty-eight percent of White Republicans believe White people in Minnesota today are subject to discrimination on account of their race, whereas 43% of White independents and only 13% of White Democrats believe the same.

Since White Minnesotans make up a strong majority of each group (94% of those identifying as Republicans or leaning Republican, 73% of those identifying as politically independent from the two main parties or refusing to identify with a party, and 79% of those identifying as Democrats or leaning Democrat), the fact that a significantly higher proportion of Republicans than Democrats believing that discrimination exists in Minnesota is largely explained by the high proportion of White Republicans who believe that White Minnesotans experience discrimination.

Minnesotans targeted by racial or ethnic slurs

Thirty-two percent of Minnesotans report that someone in Minnesota has referred to them personally using a racial or ethnic slur or other negative word in their day-to-day life. About half of BIPOC Minnesotans (52%) say they have been called a racial slur compared to roughly one-quarter of White Minnesotans (28%).

Indigenous Minnesotans (64%) and Black Minnesotans (60%) report that they have been called a racial slur at significantly higher proportions than all other racial and ethnic groups surveyed. Taking margin of error into account, Latinx, Hmong and Asian (excluding Hmong) Minnesotans are roughly equivalent in their responses; significantly above White Minnesotans but below Indigenous and Black Minnesotans.

Likewise, about half of Minnesotans who are either immigrants or adult children of immigrants report they have been called a racial slur by someone in Minnesota, which is significantly higher than adult Minnesotans who are neither immigrants nor children of immigrants (29%).

Additionally, 39% of Republicans, including 39% of White Republicans, in Minnesota report that someone has called them a racial or ethnic slur or other negative word.

Only one-quarter of Minnesota Democrats (26%), however, report that they have been called a racial or ethnic slur or other negative word, which includes over half of BIPOC Democrats and 18% of White Democrats. 

Although a larger proportion of political independents report being slurred than either Republicans or Democrats, independents are a smaller group than either of the two major parties (at least when those leaning toward the major parties are included). Thus, when accounting for margin of error, a statistically significant difference can only be established for the higher proportion of Republicans compared to Democrats who report being called by a racial or ethnic slur or other negative word.

Perceptions of police discrimination in Minnesota

Our first report on the results of the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey highlighted Minnesotans’ perceptions of the state’s police force and courts, as well as personal experiences with the same. In that report, we revealed that three-quarters of BIPOC Minnesotans (78%)—including 95% of Black Minnesotans and 86% of Indigenous Minnesotans—and one-quarter of White Minnesotans (27%) regularly experience police discrimination.

While these numbers were reported earlier, we do have a new insight to report on this data: women report that they believe members of their respective racial and ethnic groups are regularly subject to police discrimination in Minnesota at rates that are consistently higher than those of their male counterparts.

For example, 40% of all women in Minnesota report their belief that regular police discrimination occurs compared to 29% of all men in Minnesota. Likewise, 83% of BIPOC women in Minnesota believe this compared to 73% of BIPOC men and 32% of White women in Minnesota compared to 21% of White men. This pattern also holds for Black, Indigenous and Latinx Minnesotans but not for Asian and Hmong Minnesotans (at least, by a statistically significant margin).

Furthermore, while the numbers above are for the aggregate of affirmative answers (those who respond “often” and “sometimes”), this pattern is also prevalent among those who respond “often.” BIPOC women in Minnesota in general, and Black and Latinx women in Minnesota in particular, believe that other members of their respective racial and ethnic groups often experience discrimination when interacting with the police in Minnesota.

(Unlike other areas of discrimination, perceptions of racial and ethnic discrimination in policing do not vary significantly by political affiliation.)

Perceptions and experiences of employment discrimination in Minnesota

Perceptions

Forty-five percent of all Minnesotans believe that members of their racial or ethnic group regularly experience race-based discrimination when applying for jobs in the state (a combination of those who answered “often” and those who answered “sometimes”).

Eighty-one percent of BIPOC Minnesotans believe race-based employment discrimination is a regular problem for members of their racial or ethnic group. Although less than half the proportion of BIPOC Minnesotans, a still sizable proportion of White Minnesotans, 38%, believe that White Minnesotans regularly experience racial discrimination when applying for jobs in the state.

Ninety-four percent of Black Minnesotans believe Black Minnesotans regularly experience job discrimination on account of their race, which is the highest proportion of all racial and ethnic groups surveyed. They are closely followed by Indigenous Minnesotans, 86% of whom believe that race-based employment discrimination against them is a regular problem. And Black and Indigenous Minnesotans indicate that race-based employment discrimination is often a problem in the state at significantly higher rates than other racial and ethnic groups.

Additionally, 69% of immigrant Minnesotans believe that race-based job discrimination is a regular problem for members of their respective racial or ethnic groups in Minnesota, significantly higher than the 41% of adults who are neither immigrants nor children of immigrants.

Political affiliation also reveals big differences in beliefs around the prevalence of racially motivated employment discrimination. Sixty-one percent of political independents and 59% of Republicans believe that members of their respective racial and ethnic groups regularly experience discrimination when applying for jobs in Minnesota, compared to a significantly lower 33% of Democrats. This difference is largely traceable to the much smaller proportion of White Democrats who believe that White Minnesotans often or sometimes face racial discrimination when applying for jobs; 19% compared to over half of White Republicans and political independents.

Experiences

While the previous numbers measure people’s perceptions of racial discrimination when it comes to applying for jobs in Minnesota, we also asked Minnesotans about their lived experiences with race-based job discrimination.

Sixteen percent of all Minnesotans believe they have personally experienced discrimination because of their race when applying for jobs in Minnesota. Forty-four percent of BIPOC Minnesotans—including 62% of Black Minnesotans, the largest proportion of all groups surveyed—have experienced racial discrimination when applying for jobs in Minnesota, which is four times the proportion of White Minnesotans who report experiencing racial discrimination when applying for jobs.

Thirty-seven percent of immigrants in Minnesota indicate that they have faced racial or ethnic discrimination when applying for jobs, compared to 13% of adults who are neither immigrants nor children of immigrant parents.

A virtually identical proportion of Republicans and Democrats indicate that they have experienced racial or ethnic discrimination in hiring. This stands in stark contrast to the big difference between the two parties in the perception that job discrimination against people of their racial or ethnic group exists, as noted above. While much of that discrepancy was traceable to perceptions among Republicans of discrimination against Whites, here we see that 13% of White Republicans report directly experiencing racial discrimination in the job market—twice the proportion of White Democrats who report facing racial job discrimination.

Perceptions and experiences of housing discrimination in Minnesota

Perceptions

One-third of all Minnesotans believe that members of their racial or ethnic groups regularly experience discrimination when trying to rent a room or apartment or buying a house. And over two-thirds of BIPOC Minnesotans (70%) and one-quarter of White Minnesotans (25%) believe housing discrimination is a regular problem for their racial or ethnic groups.

Eighty-seven percent of Black Minnesotans, the highest proportion of all groups, believe housing discrimination is a regular problem for Black Minnesotans in general. Indigenous Minnesotans closely follow them at 78%. Just over half of immigrants in Minnesota (55%) believe members of their racial or ethnic group regularly experience discrimination when trying to rent or buy housing in the state, which is significantly higher than adults who are neither immigrants nor children of immigrants (28%).

While only 6% of all Minnesotans and 2% of White Minnesotans believe members of their racial or ethnic group often experience discrimination when searching for housing in Minnesota, 29% of BIPOC Minnesotans believe this. And in the case of Black and Indigenous Minnesotans, that proportion is close to one-half (45%).

There are also several intriguing gender-related findings. BIPOC women (76%) are significantly more inclined than BIPOC men (63%) to believe that their racial or ethnic group experiences housing discrimination in Minnesota on a regular basis, as are White women (37%) when compared to White men (27%). Hmong women (70%), in particular, answer affirmatively at a significantly higher rate than Hmong men (53%).

Latinx women (42%) are more than twice as likely as Latinx men (18%) to believe that housing discrimination is often a problem for Latinx Minnesotans and BIPOC women (35%) also respond that housing discrimination is often a problem for members of their race or ethnicity in Minnesota at a significantly higher rate than BIPOC men (23%).

Nearly one-half of political independents (49%) believe that members of their racial or ethnic group regularly experience housing discrimination in Minnesota, as do 39% of Republicans and one-quarter of Democrats (25%). One-fifth of independents say that housing discrimination is often experienced by members of their racial or ethnic group, compared to 7% of Democrats and only 2% of Republicans. However, 36% of Republicans say this occurs sometimes, which is twice the rate for Democrats (18%).

Experiences

In the case of personal experience with race-based housing discrimination, one-third of BIPOC Minnesotans believe they have personally experienced discrimination when trying to rent a room or apartment or buy a house in Minnesota. By comparison only 4% of White Minnesotans believe they have experienced housing discrimination on account of their race. Meaning that 8% of all Minnesotans believe they have experienced racial discrimination when looking for housing.

Nearly one-half of Black Minnesotans (47%) say they have personally experienced housing discrimination, followed closely by 41% of Indigenous Minnesotans. One-third of Latinx Minnesotans and 30% of immigrants in Minnesota, compared to only 5% of adults who are neither immigrants nor children of immigrants, also report experiencing race- or ethnicity-based housing discrimination.

Similar to the employment discrimination results, a significantly higher proportion of political independents (22%) say they have personally experienced housing discrimination in Minnesota on account of their race than both Democrats (9%) and Republicans (5%).

Perceptions and experiences of voting discrimination in Minnesota

Perceptions

Seventeen percent of all Minnesotans believe that members of their race or ethnicity regularly experience discrimination when trying to vote. This includes 38% of BIPOC Minnesotans and 13% of White Minnesotans.

Roughly equal proportions of Black (45%), Indigenous (43%) and Latinx Minnesotans (42%) believe race-based voting discrimination is a regular problem in Minnesota. One in five Indigenous Minnesotans, however, report that voting discrimination is “often” a problem for them, the largest proportion of all racial and ethnic groups surveyed.

Nearly one-third of immigrants in Minnesota believe that discrimination is a regular experience for members of their race or ethnicity when trying to vote, a proportion double that of adults who are neither immigrants nor children of immigrants.

Although there are no statistically significant differences between political affiliations when it comes to affirmative answers, there is a notable difference when it comes to negative answers. Eighty-six percent of Democrats believe that discrimination is rarely or never a problem for members of their respective racial or ethnic groups. This is a significantly larger proportion than that of Republicans (78%) and independents (68%).

Further, only 5% of White Democrats believe that White Minnesotans experience discrimination when trying to vote, compared to 18% of White independents and 22% of White Republicans.

Experiences

When it comes to personal experiences with voting discrimination, relatively few Minnesotans indicate that they themselves are victims. Still, the 5% that do report experiencing this type of discrimination would amount to 1 in every 20 potential voters; more than enough to influence tight elections. The rate is twice as high among Indigenous Minnesotans, with 11% indicating that they have been racially discriminated against when trying to vote.

Answers to this survey question also reveal how many people volunteer that they have not tried to vote or are not registered to vote in Minnesota. Nearly one in five BIPOC Minnesotans (18%) have not tried to vote or are not registered compared to only 1% of White Minnesotans. One-quarter of Latinx Minnesotans are also in this category, the largest proportion of all racial and ethnic groups surveyed.

Immigrants also report higher levels of discrimination at the polls (10%), and lower rates of participation in voting (24%) than is the case for other Minnesotans.

Several other demographic characteristics reveal slight differences in personal experiences of race-based voter discrimination. Fourteen percent of Minnesotans ages 18-29 years old, for example, say they have personally experienced discrimination on account of their race or ethnicity when trying to vote.

Additionally, 11% of political independents and 8% of Republicans have personally experienced racial discrimination when trying to vote compared to only 2% of Democrats. Among White Democrats, only 1% indicate that they have been racially discriminated against when trying to vote, compared to 8% of White Republicans.

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