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.
March 5, 2001 -
March 9, 2001 - PRONOUNCE: KARELIA is kuh RAIL yuh A trio of Karelian (kuh RAY lee un) folk musicians is in Minnesota to sing and play centuries-old music from their homeland. Karelia is a piece of northern Europe between Finland and Russia. The land is carpeted with forests and dotted with lakes. These days Karelia is an autonomous region of the Russian Federation. The Karelian Folk Ensemble tunes showcase ancient instruments and stories of forest wizards. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. BACK ANNOUNCE IF USED THURSDAY: The Karelian Folk Ensemble performs tonight (Thursday) at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis and on Saturday in New York Mills.
March 22, 2001 - Minnesota's Health Department says the state's tuberculosis rate is rising even though the national rate is on the decline. 178 cases were diagnosed in 1999, the second largest number of cases in the past 20 years. The health department says a large number of the cases involve immigrants from countries don't have the ability to diagnose and treat the disease. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
March 22, 2001 - Minnesota Author Evelyn Fairbanks has died at the age of 72. Fairbanks wrote "Days of Rondo," a memoir about growing up in St. Paul's largest black neighborhood in the 1930's and '40's. The Rondo neighborhood was razed in the 1960's to make way for interstate 94. Fairbank's book was published in 1990 and is now in its fourth printing. In 1991, Fairbanks gave up city life and moved to the outskirts of tiny Onamia, Minnesota, where she operated a 20 acre tree farm. In a 1995 interview with Minnesota Public Radio's Beth Friend, Fairbanks described why she was drawn to the country:
March 26, 2001 - FOR MONDAY MORNING The U-S census bureau will release the first set of data for Minnesota this week. The census is expected to reflect significant increases in many minority populations. States bordering Minnesota and many others report substantial gains among Hispanics and Asians. Many groups in Minnesota are encouraged by the efforts to count minority populations, but they say the process has a long way to go. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports. (scene: music, noise)
March 26, 2001 - The Equal Rights Amendment is getting another chance in Congress. Last week, more than 160 members signed onto the legislation... which would give women equal protection under the consitution. The E-R-A was first introduced in 1923, and despite its repeated RE-introduction, has never achieved the level of support necessary for ratification. 4th district representative Betty McCallum is one of the bill's sponsors this session. She says its time to make the E-R-A a reality:
March 28, 2001 - The US census bureau released information on Minnesota's population and racial make-up today (Wednesday). Minority populations---particularly Hispanics---are growing. The 2000 census figures show the number of people indentifying themselves as Hispanic grew more than two and a half times in the past ten years. The census also shows growth in MInneapolis and St. Paul, but the growth was far outpaced by increases in the surrounding suburbs. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.
March 28, 2001 -
March 29, 2001 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on 2000 U.S. Census data that shows people of Asian decent now outnumber African Americans in St. Paul. Nearly nine percent of Ramsey County's population is Asian. Many of the counties surrounding the Twin Cities also had significant growth in Asian populations in the past decade.
April 3, 2001 - *The results of the 2000 census would appear to be good news for *Minnesota's* Native American *population* . Census figures show the Native American *population in the state grew by about 31-thousand people since 1990, Ranking the state 13th nationally . 1.1. percent of Minnesota's population claims some Native American heritage. While the increase in population is seen as encouraging by some tribal officials, others are questioning *the* figures . Mainstreet Radio's Bob Reha reports.....