Jump to response from:

• Anton Treuer, Ph.D., Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of many books

• Cynthia J. Fraction, Director, Center for Social Justice Research, Policy & Advocacy at the Twin Cities Urban League

• Ramona Kitto Stately (Santee Dakota Nation), Project Director, We Are Still Here Minnesota

• Steve Thao, Executive Director, CHAT (Center for Hmong Arts and Talent)

• Pearl Walker-Swaney, MPH (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe/White Earth Nation), Program Manager, Native Governance Center

• Allison Liuzzi, Research Manager and Minnesota Compass Project Director, Wilder Research

• Robyn Rapoport, Executive Vice President for Health Care, Public Policy and International Research, SSRS

• Rodolfo Gutierrez, Executive Director, HACER (Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research)

Why do you think racial and ethnic discrimination is as common as it is in Minnesota today?

Talking about race is difficult. I have a YouTube short film that highlights my views on why this is a tough discussion here.

Minnesota was home to George Floyd and Philando Castile. It is home to an Indigenous population that comprises 2% of the state's demography but 17% of the state's prison population and 20% of the state's homeless population. In Minnesota, we are nice and can talk about tater tot hotdish and weather at great length and detail. But we are so conflict averse that we are communication averse. We don't often make space for tackling tough topics.

Minnesota is politically a purple state and these are divisive times to tackle a sometimes-divisive subject. But that is precisely why we need to lean in. Every oppression in history was orchestrated by people who thought they were kind and moral and right. So we need to be introspective as we search for solutions. We should all seek to interrogate our own beliefs and prejudices, to give everyone we want to give a good talking-to a good listening-to.

What do you think should be done about discrimination in Minnesota? 

Minnesota needs a truth and reconciliation effort. We need broad, deep, sustained communication on this topic and not just in echo chambers. I believe we need this at a national level and at a state level. We need to mobilize resources to support and amplify this effort.

We need education on tough topics for all of us. We need to get brave and lean in. Minnesotans who care about this need to communicate with one another more and more deeply as well, to hold one another up—to be proactive in activism, not just reactive to each new crisis. When we build bridges like that, real change will happen.

Learn more about Dr. Treuer’s work.

Why do you think racial and ethnic discrimination is as common as it is in Minnesota today?

In 2013 three Black women, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, created a movement building, Black-centered, politically focused, social media project called #BlackLivesMatter.  It launched and took off after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a man who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, in February of 2012. Today, Black Lives Matter signs are seen on lawns, billboards, store fronts, churches, websites, and the like throughout the nation.

However, on Tuesday April 20, 2021, Minnesota took this Movement to the next level. When the word “GUILTY” flashed before our screens we all watched, now, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin handcuffed and ushered away to a place where people go when they have committed a crime. Convicted of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for the blatant killing of George Floyd, it was at this time that Minnesota paused and let the world know that before Black life can matter to anyone, Black life must first be valued by everyone and that this must reflect in our laws and actions with all persons being held accountable.

Stanford Psychologist Steven O. Roberts and Michael Rizzo, postdoctoral fellow at NYU co-authored a study that discusses the 7 factors that allow racism to exist.

1. Categories: which organize people into distinct groups;

2. Factions: which trigger ingroup loyalty and inter group competition;

3. Segregation: which hardens racist perceptions, preferences and beliefs;

4. Hierarchy: which emboldens people to think, feel and behave in racist ways;

5. Power: which legislates racism on both micro and macro levels;

6. Media: which legitimizes overrepresented and idealized representations of white Americans while marginalizing and minimizing people of color; and

7. Passivism: such that overlooking or denying the existence of racism encourages others to do the same.

Of the seven factors the most insidious is passivism or passive racism, which is inclusive of apathy toward systems of racial advantage or denial that those systems even exist. Minnesota is known to be a state whose racism is passive or covert or even subtle at times, which to many is worse than blatant. While the seven categories are not specific only to Minnesota, they certainly underscore how racial and ethnic discrimination are common in Minnesota.

Racial and ethnic discrimination in Minnesota is common today for three reasons. First, Black lives are not equally valued, and, for Black lives to matter they must first be valued. The difference being asserting appropriate action and being accountable to it versus just placing words on a front lawn, a t-shirt, or face mask. Do you model what you say and how so? What is the measurable action that takes place?

Second, the laws of the state and those laws that make up the U.S. Constitution were not written by racially diverse people and therefore they were not meant to be inclusive of all people. This helps to fuel racial and ethnic discrimination when laws don’t work fairly. It is as if different shapes exist but there is only one hole, and it accepts only one shape and therefore what to do with the other shapes that are not designed to fit into the existing system? Only those in power get to answer that question. Power, or point #5, comes into play.

Last, as long as white privilege exists, racism has an open door to be practiced hence racial and ethnic discrimination will remain a constant until this construct can be interrupted. Obviously, education is key in the lives of all people. Knowledge is a rich and powerful tool. What is in one’s head cannot be taken away. However, how to take the knowledge and learned behavior of racism and the idea of the practices of ethnic discrimination out of the mind of a racist?

These are Minnesota’s uphill battles, I believe, with racial and ethnic discrimination is as common in Minnesota today. Minnesota has moved the needle but we have a long way to go before the song is over.

What do you think should be done about discrimination in Minnesota?

A restorative justice process is needed. White people and African Americans need to come together and hear each other. We have unfinished business from a local and national perspective. The Civil Rights Movement has not ended. It has taken a different twist. If Minnesota can find a way to begin the healing process between the two races, history will be made. This is a critical step towards eliminating discrimination in Minnesota.

Anywhere there are laws, policies and acts where people are held accountable and repercussions can take place, all should be reviewed and rewritten to reflect today’s racial and ethnic composition of the state of Minnesota. Tedious though it may be, Minnesota, has reached a point where it is being forced to initiate bold moves to address laws and policies that reflect all representation.

In order to do this, every law and policy must be written or rewritten by diverse people. No longer can laws be used that were written by and for white males where today they are tweaked and amended. People who make up the composition of this state must be at the table as they are now stakeholders. Every law must be revisited. We can’t stomp out discrimination if representation of stakeholders are not at the table. This is also inclusive of the U.S. Constitution. This breaks down the power dimension noted in point #5, above.

We are a state with high numbers of immigrant populations and we are growing. While the growth in population and diversity is a beautiful thing, the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or inclusive excellence is a failed concept in businesses across the state. These are mere words on paper, statements that are not action oriented. DEI is a creative way of lumping distinct groups (point #1 above) together to make it easier for businesses of all natures to check boxes in an aggregate way for reporting. This must stop. DEI creatively waters down and minimizes the races and makes companies just that much more vulnerable to discrimination.

Where there are DEI plans, if they must exist, I propose that there be advisory boards comprised of people who represent populations vulnerable to discrimination. Regular feedback, evaluations, in ways that hold organizations and leadership at all levels accountable is required. Senior management should be accountable to this advisory board.

Learn more about Ms. Fraction’s work at the Twin Cities Urban League.

Why do you think racial and ethnic discrimination is as common as it is in Minnesota today?

These surveys and their results are not surprising to those who live these experiences every day. I live in a state where Indigenous students have consistently failed for 50 years. Today, this data reflects Black, Brown and Indigenous students. This is no anomaly, this is a complete failure of an education system to meet the needs of those who are diverse learners. The resounding message is “they don’t matter.” I agree with one of the survey’s respondents, who commented that the one thing that could change discrimination in our state is education. We must teach the whole history, not a history written by white men from a colonialistic lens. How can we expect to raise good critical thinkers, and prepare them for future leadership without arming them with all of the state’s history, be it good, bad or ugly?

The landmark, national Reclaiming Native Truth research report in 2018 showed that half of all adult Americans believe that the information which they were taught about Native American history and culture in school is inaccurate. It also reveals that 72% of Americans believe that it is necessary to improve school curriculum about Native American subjects. Moreover, this research project revealed that teachers in general believe that Native history is among the worst covered and least accurate subjects taught in public education today.

The data shows that in the area of Education, 23 states do not mention Native Americans and of the States that do, they don’t teach about Native Americans after 1900. Imagine the message this sends to a developing child in a classroom: There are no more Indians, they don’t matter. For the Black, Brown and Indigenous child in a classroom, they are deemed invisible. For all children in a classroom there is a very strong message, being white is important.

White children learn early that “my teacher looks like me, my identity is consistently reinforced in the lessons I learn, the heroes I learn about look like me, all the leadership look like me and the books I read reflect people like me.” This is clinched with Manifest Destiny lessons in the 5th grade. This is where the gap in the educational system begins and remains consistent through disciplinary measures that are unfair. More importantly, this is where the racist system is fostered and reinforced.

Those who resist teaching a more accurate history are the products of it. And while we wait, each Black, Brown and Indigenous child will bear the shame of the ignorance perpetrated within the education system.

What do you think should be done about discrimination in Minnesota?

The first steps to healing is to acknowledge what happened and support new laws, systems and community voices to enact systemic change. And I say “healing” because our own Legislature has declared racism as a public health crisis. We, as Minnesotans, must decide who we want to be. Do we continue to fertilize the racist systems, and allow our BIPOC children to carry the burden? Are we satisfied with the Minnesota Paradox or do we check our egos, roll up our sleeves and live up to the mission statements that resound in our school districts across the state that vow to teach all children knowing full well that some will predictably fail.

We Are Still Here Minnesota’s mission is to spotlight and make visible the lives and contributions of Native American peoples and their governments in Minnesota today because we are still here. We do this by challenging and correcting false narratives, replacing fiction with facts in K-12 education and finding solutions for issues impacting the Native American community. We braid together the strengths of established networks of Native American people, allies and organizations focusing on the areas of Governance & Policy, K-12 Education, Pop Culture & Media and Philanthropy to uplift our tribal nations, our history and citizens. Without using all of these networks, it is clear that we cannot influence change in a system that has changed very little in the last 100 years.

We Are Still Here Minnesota will continue to support Indigenous Education for All legislation, which will give teachers the tools to include Ojibwe and Dakota History and Culture in all disciplines and meet the requirements of their licensure. We will continue to ensure that our tribal nations are seen as contemporary people who have suffered genocidal tactics and land theft, yet we are still here. 159 years of oppression does not define who we are. 14,000 years of connection to place brings cultural understandings of ways of healing and knowing. The Minnesota Tribal Gaming Association, which includes all 11 tribal nations in our state, are the 14th largest employers in Minnesota and the 2nd largest tourism draw. The economic contribution alone of our Tribal Nations are of huge benefit to Minnesota, yet we remain invisible.

We are ancient, and we are contemporary.

Learn more about Ms. Kitto-Stately’s work at We Are Still Here Minnesota.

Why do you think racial and ethnic discrimination is as common as it is in Minnesota today?

Minnesota Nice is a cultural identity and even though the connotation is positive, many (non Native Minnesotan) people have come to understand it as a polite and nicety that the majority of the white population creates that hides their true feelings. While there is legal acceptance of different races and ethnicities there is a big disconnect between tolerating and truly accepting immigrants and people of color into the fabric of Minnesota society. A number of personalities on a local popular radio station often talks about “one of us” and that segregation is seen everyday between White Minnesotans and immigrants and people of color. 

What do you think should be done about discrimination in Minnesota?

Discrimination will not be eliminated soon.  By law everyone should be treated equally but in truth and in the minds of White Minnesota, there will never be a state of true equality. There will never be a state of true equality in terms of partner selections, in terms of truly accepting of other people and their cultural differences. People of color are allowed to go to the dance. But in truth they will rarely be asked to dance.

What CHAT (Center for Hmong Arts and Talent) does is to share our culture with different cultures. We share our Hmong songs and culture with White Minnesotans to lesson the exoticism and to personalize who we are. We hope that by understanding there will soon be acceptance.

There can always be policy to level the field and strive for equality but the hearts and minds of people and their inner thoughts are the true barometers of racism and equality discussion. That is one way you end racism—perhaps have our education system embrace a major strategy from K-12 and have that value be integrated into curriculum. Get them young. Racism is taught and acquired by culture and parents.

To this day I still remember Native stories and fables from second grade which provided me an interest and compassion to the people who lived here before everyone else. 

Learn more about Mr. Thao’s work at CHAT.

Why do you think racial and ethnic discrimination is as common as it is in Minnesota today?

Many people consider Minnesota to be a “progressive” state and a “nice” place to live. But those labels don’t reflect reality, and the data show this. Racial and ethnic discrimination is common in Minnesota because our political representatives, citizens and institutions regularly uphold white supremacist systems, negatively impacting and diminishing quality of life for BIPOC communities.

The ongoing impacts of colonization, genocide and slavery lie at the root of discrimination faced by BIPOC communities. Individuals who hold power on issues that matter to BIPOC communities often do not represent these communities and operate with a colonized mindset. BIPOC communities have made tremendous contributions to Minnesota, but their assets usually go unrecognized. Most often, power holders extract beauty from BIPOC communities and use it for profit without providing credit or compensation. Cultural appropriation, microaggressions, harassment and hate crimes against BIPOC run rampant in our state.

When systems perpetuate harmful narratives about BIPOC communities, racial discrimination becomes the norm. I grew up in northern Minnesota. As one of the few Indigenous student-athletes on the field, I encountered racial slurs and harassment from non-Indigenous peers and teachers simply because I have brown skin. I experienced microaggressions about my long hair, a symbol of connection and health in my culture that others openly despised. In a history class, we skipped discussing American Indian history; when I asked about it, my teacher told me we would come back to it. We never did. These are the norms I witnessed (and continue to witness) as a Minnesotan.

What do you think should be done about discrimination in Minnesota?

Reducing racial discrimination in Minnesota will require policy change and societal shifts to collectively dismantle white supremacy. For example, we need curriculum changes to ensure that Minnesota students learn the true history of Mni Sota Makoce, no matter how uncomfortable or dark it may be.

Our educational curriculums exclude modern-day Indigenous voices and portray Indigenous people as relics of the past. This leads to invisibility and damaging myths. Cultural enrichment and learning about modern-day Indigenous issues are paramount for students. These changes will require training, resources and social-emotional learning for educators and parents. We need narrative change in our schools to accurately portray and uplift BIPOC communities.

Our state representatives need to learn about the 11 Native nations in Minnesota, along with the histories and cultures of BIPOC communities that call our state home. In 2019, the Minnesota state legislature took a positive step in this direction by meeting with elected Tribal leaders for Sovereignty Day. Minnesota also has a Tribal-State Relations training that builds relationships between state and Tribal governments. We need more initiatives that promote the exchange of knowledge between BIPOC leaders and state representatives.

Individual Minnesotans should do self-work on antiracism, decolonization, and moving away from white supremacist systems. We recommend Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad as a starting point for this work. My organization, Native Governance Center, has developed several resources to help people navigate issues like cultural appropriation and moving beyond land acknowledgment.

Learn more about Ms. Walker-Swaney’s work at the Native Governance Center.

As a researcher who has long tracked disparities in Minnesota, what do you see as notable about the findings from the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey?

We know from data on Minnesota Compass that our state is home to longstanding, stubborn disparities by race and ethnicity. Findings from Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey cast additional light on the various forms of discrimination perceived and experienced by our Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian communities. The findings are sobering. And not unexpected. Discrimination may, in fact, be worse in Minnesota than nationally.

Perceptions of discrimination are particularly pronounced in employment. Across BIPOC communities, at least 7 in 10 adults believe members of their racial or ethnic community experience employment discrimination when applying for jobs. Estimates are closer to 9 in 10 adults among Minnesota’s Black and Indigenous populations. And across these communities, perceptions of discrimination are consistently higher than nationally. This is striking and, whether perceived or real, could have long-lasting impacts on all Minnesotans’ economic well-being.

What do you think should be done about discrimination in Minnesota?

Racial and ethnic disparities in Minnesota are large and persistent. But there are ways to change ourselves, our organizations and our systems that can result in greater well-being for all Minnesotans. On Minnesota Compass, our Racial Equity Resource Directory provides a robust list of racial equity programs and training providers that can help their organizations combat racism and increase cultural competence. Our Leadership Toolkit offers a list of 23 best practices in diversity, equity and inclusion that show what works (and what – surprisingly – doesn’t). Acting in ways that create small and large disruptions to the status quo can result in the changes we need to see to address real and perceived employment, policing, and housing discrimination.

Learn more about Ms. Luizzi’s work and Minnesota Compass.