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.
October 13, 2000 - It's been four years since U.S. immigration officials began jailing everyone seeking political asylum. Nationwide, thousands of asylum seekers may await a decision on their status from a cell. Because relatively few try to enter the country through Minnesota, the number who end up in our county jails and state lockups is small -- only nineteen. But Minnesotans who have worked on the cases say they illustrate the problems with the system.
October 24, 2000 - When author Michael Chabon, wanted to find a way to write about an era that he treasured he turned to comic books: All his life, he has been drawn to the fashion, music, writing, politics and social history of the late thirties and forties known to comic book fans as "The Golden Age" when Superman, Batman and others became American icons. "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" is Chabon's ode to this often disparaged artform. His heroes are two cousins, an American hoping to make it big in comics, and a Czech immigrant fleeing the Nazis. Together they invent , "The Escapist", a masked hero battling evil across the world. The horrors of Nazi Germany effect them directly, but also fuel their creative fires as they use "The Escapist" to convince the public that the US needs to join World War Two.
October 24, 2000 - Governor Jesse Ventura has completed the first official day of his 6-day trade mission to Mexico. Ventura met outgoing Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at the Mexican Presidential Palace and Later gave a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City. He and many Minnesota company representatives who've joined him on the trip finished off the evening at a reception at the residence of the ambassador to the United States. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg is travelling with Ventura, and has this report.
October 25, 2000 - In his new book "Singing My Him Song" Malachy McCourt, brother of Frank of "Angela's Ashes" fame, tells more of the wild Irish immigrant story he began in his first memoir "A Monk Swimming". It's also the story of him coming to terms with his alcohol abuse and how he came to work with his brother on the hit show "A Couple of Blaguards". Malachy McCourt says as he looked for the reasons he drank, he focused on his anger at his abusive father.
November 3, 2000 - What do you do if you're not who you think you are? A hermaphrodite's memoires are now the basis of a play in the Twin Cities.
November 6, 2000 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Yer Moua, a Hmong woman about her concerns and views as a voter. Speaking through her daughter, Mai Ning Moua, Yer said that although this will be her first U.S. election, this wont be her first time in a voting booth.
November 13, 2000 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on Native American convention held in St. Paul, where concerns of the new incoming U.S. presidential administration were expressed.
November 16, 2000 - The U-S Surgeon General's office and other federal health agencies say the rising rates of HIV and AIDS cases among Native Americans signal a possible epidemic. It's long been known that HIV and AIDS have been a problem within other minority communities, most notably African Americans and Hispanics, but officials worry the disease could spread more quickly in the country's small American Indian population. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
November 20, 2000 - After years of wrangling, the University of North Dakota is preparing to decide the future of the schools Fighting Sioux nickname. The Sioux name was chosen in 1930, and is a focus of school pride. Since the 1960s people have challenged the name, some charging it is offensive to Native Americans. A commission studying the use of the Sioux nickname held its final meeting today. Next month the U-N-D president will recommend keeping or changing the nickname. The states board of higher education will make the final decision. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson reports.
November 20, 2000 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman reports that the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has launched a survey of several hundred Hmong business owners and households in St Paul. The Fed wants to know how well the banking system is meeting the needs of Hmong entrepreneurs. They hope the survey will illuminate the obstacles to Hmong people's access to capital.