When Minnesota was a new state, thousands of settlers arrived, many of them from Europe. But in recent decades, the state has attracted large numbers of Hmong and Somali refugees. There are also thousands of people from India, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Mexico and the People’s Republic of China living in Minnesota.
The state has become more racially diverse in the last 10 years, and demographers said that's especially true among children. About 83 percent of Minnesotans were white, non-Hispanic for the 2010 census, compared to 88 percent in 2000.
November 13, 1998 - Minneapolis city employees packed council chambers last night to protest the city's residency rule, which requires those hired since 1993 to live within city limits. Minnesota Public Radio's Eric Jansen reports: The St. Anthony West Neighborhood Association's chairman was in the minority last night. Michael Rainville says most neighborhood groups believe Minneapolis city employees should be required to live in the city. 2:42 "Noone's holidng a gun to anyone's head. If you don't want the job, because you don't want to live here, if you view that as a penalty, then perhaps you're not cut out to be a city of Minneapolis employee." :11
November 25, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Gretchen Lehmann profiles the Kensington Runestone…and the debate over the authenticity that has has waged on for one hundred years.
November 25, 1998 - A group of Twin Cities high school students is launching an advertising campaign designed to convince kids not to smoke. Students from Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul hope their message will get through to young people since it's coming from their peers. Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum reports... A dozen or so students developed a poster in twelve different languages, a web site and a P-S-A for TV. In the video, children dressed in career clothes - a doctor, a construction worker, a dancer - are happily playing, until a pack of cigarettes crashes down in their midst... (nat - kids laughing, screech of cig pack, sound of heartbeat)
November 25, 1998 - The most recent Surgeon General's report find Native Americans have the highest adult smoking rates of any ethnic or minority group in the country. The report finds tobacco use among Native Americans has soared more than 40-percent at a time when it has levelled off among other racial groups. As a result, more Native Americans are dying of respiratory cancers than ever before. Health officials are alarmed but as Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Stawicki reports, anti-tobacco programs take on new complexities for many Native Americans who've long viewed tobacco as a sacred gift: To get a sense of tobacco's place in indian culture one needs to look no further than a traditional pow wow. (sound of leader talking about of tobacco/creation)
November 27, 1998 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman reports on thousands of people gathering in St. Paul’s RiverCentre to celebrate the Hmong New Year. It's a time of cultural and commercial significance as people visit friends and family, browse Hmong merchandise, and watch performances of both traditional and modern dances. Nyman speaks with various participants at the event.
December 8, 1998 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman talks with Ilean Her, director of the state’s Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, about Hmong community leaders release of a proposal seeking state dollars to help Minnesota's South-East Asians population. Several recent tragedies in the Hmong community prompted the initiative which will be presented to the legislature. It calls for mental health, education, violence prevention, and self-sufficiency programs.
December 24, 1998 - FOR DEC 24 ATC Imagine you're a celebrity musician. New cars, nice clothes, fans stopping you on the street for autographs. Then, war changes everything. You're forced to leave your homeland with little more than the clothes on your back, and you end up in Minnesota working at a bakery. That in a nutshell is the story of Alexsander Pavolic (PAV low vick). Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson has more. audio . . . ambience Pavlovic family smiles as bright as light bulbs greet visitors to the their small apartment in Brooklyn Center. Coffee is served, there's a little conversation. But Alexsander is straining at the bit like a race horse. He is happiest when his fingers are racing over his
December 29, 1998 - In the past, mining towns in northeast Minnesota were the battlegrounds in hard-fought labor disputes. One weapon used by the steel companies was a vast, intricate spy system among their workers. Chisholm native Tom Selinski has created a video documentary, "Spies in Steel," describing that era, and how the spy network was ultimately exposed. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil reports. Today union offices occupy some of the most prominent buildings in Iron Range towns. But in the early part of the century, union meeting places were makeshift -- and clandestine. Workers met in storefronts and basements, knowing they'd be fired by the mining company if their union membership was revealed. Raising the stakes, and increasing the risks were company spies...in barber shops, hotels, and among their own members. Tom Selinski grew
March 8, 1999 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman presents a series titled “This Is Home: The Hmong in Minnesota.” In this part, Nyman profiles the history of the Hmong people, their journey to the United States, and the life of one Hmong American family in Saint Paul.
March 9, 1999 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman presents a series titled “This Is Home: The Hmong in Minnesota.” In this part, Nyman reports on the shift of power and leadership from the older to the younger generation in the Hmong community.