MPR Archive presents a selection of stories tied to various the aspects, history, and battles for civil rights of individuals and groups within the State of Minnesota.
August 21, 1997 - MPR’s John Biewen presents the first of two reports on how the Twin Cities are responding to black newcomers. Report includes commentary from residents, politicians, and academics.
September 25, 1997 - Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton is urging the city's residents to show tolerance, respect, and civility during the current mayoral race. At a joint appearance with her challenger Barbara Carlson yesterday, Sayles Belton said it would be wrong to use an altercation that occurred after a candidate debate this week as evidence of a racially divided city. Carlson says there is racial division in Minneapolis. She says it needs to be discussed more openly. Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen reports.
September 26, 1997 - Gay-themed movies and T-V shows generally address the most broad themes of gay life, like the difficulty of coming out. Edmund White's latest book, "The Farewell Symphony," digs deeper into the trials and tribulations faced by homosexuals in American society today. Yet, taking a mentor's advice, White keeps you at a little distance, letting you draw your own conclusions. "The Farewell Symphony" is an autobiographical novel about White's repressive Midwest childhood and his life as a usually struggling writer in New York and Europe ... during which time he had sex with thousands of men. In the title, White may be saying farewell to Brice, his lover of five years, who died of AIDS in 1994. This was White's first reciprocated love affair and you'd think he'd be more prominent in the book, but Brice makes only cameo appearances in "The Farewell Symphony." We learn why he's mostly quiet about Brice when White is reunited with an old flame.
January 29, 1998 - At a ceremony today, two of the largest low-income housing providers in Minnesota signed an agreement to work together on promoting fair housing. Officials with the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office say they're targeting housing discrimination in a part of the state often overlooked: the rural communities. Minnesota Public Radio's Gretchen Lehmann (lay-mun) reports. The Schoolview Manor apartment complex sits in the center of Big Lake. It houses many of the disabled and elderly residents in this town of just over 2,000 people. The complex was chosen for today's announcement because offi
April 17, 1998 - As part of Mainstreet Radio’s Treaty Rights and Tribal Sovereignty series, Catherine Winter presents report on the concept called tribal sovereignty, and a look at the where this complex set of rules comes from, and how it affects Indian people today. Report includes various interviews with tribe members.
May 19, 1998 - Guns, gangs and violence. Not the usual picture when you think of a small northern Minnesota town. But residents in Cass Lake on the Leech Lake Reservation say they're under siege. As MPR's Tom Robertson reports, the area is also struggling with high unemployment, poverty, and longstanding racial divisions between the Leech Lake tribal government and city officials. BACKANNOUNCE: Tomorrow, Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil tells us how a recent State Supreme Court decision is resulting in some changes for law enforcement on the state's reservations.
May 20, 1998 - Young people are frequent victims, and the most likely perpetrators, of hate crimes. Many Minnesota teens were among hundreds who gathered yesterday at a hate crimes summit in Minneapolis, hoping their stories will encourage more people to pay attention to the problem. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports: The most energetic session of the day-long summit on hate crimes was the taping of a national television show about how prejudice affects teens. The June 20 show is hosted by Court TV's Carol Randolph:
May 20, 1998 - In December, the Minnesota Supreme Court delivered "the Stone decision," a ruling on a case brought by members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. They claimed the state lacks authority to enforce civil laws, such as traffic regulations, on reservations. The high court agreed and as a result Tribal authorities now face big decisions over how to provide their own law enforcement... and how to pay for it. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports from Duluth. Most Minnesota reservations are covered by what's known as Public Law 280, which has allowed the state to provide law enforcement on reservation land since 1953. With the Stone decision, the court clarified that the state ONLY has criminal jurisdiction. So reservations are stepping in to en
May 21, 1998 - More than 125 Native American tribes from across the nation are represented at a tribal environmental conference underway at the Prairie Island Dakota Community. One session addressed a key issue facing Prairie Island and other tribes - the storage of nuclear waste on or near their lands. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... One Prairie Island official says the most ominous issue facing the tribe is its nuclear neighbor. Northern States Power Company's Prairie Island plant sits less than a mile away from the reservation, along with its seven dry casks storing spent nuclear fuel. Whether tribes should accept nuclear waste for storage has been hotly debated across the country - Robert Hold
May 21, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter reports on Cass Lake-Bena school district, a small district on the Leech Lake Reservation that has struggled with racial tension for years. The district is trying to serve its Native students better, but the case is still not settled.