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.
August 18, 2003 - About 50 Minneapolis cab drivers held a rally today (MONDAY) to memorialize two slain collegues and to call attention to what they say are unaddressed safety issues. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.
September 3, 2003 - This past Labor Day weekend, unions across the country announced a new push to increase union membership in the private sector. Membership rates have been on the decline nationally, as in Minnesota. But Minnesota still remains one of the most unionized states in the country, with an almost 20% union membership rate (compared to about 6% in many southern states). And efforts to unionize continue. One such place is in Willmar, Minnesota, where Jennie-O Turkey Store is based. The plant is employing more and more immigrant workers. And union organizers says those workers need help protecting their rights. Minnesota Public Radio's Annie Baxter has this report. {
September 3, 2003 - The Midtown Public Market is located at the intersection of two major streets and multiple cultures in South Minneapolis. The market is based in one of the most diverse areas of the state, home to growing populations of asian, latino and African immigrant communities. Organizers hope these immigrant communities will play a large role in the market's success. Minnesota Public Radio's Brandt Williams reports:
September 11, 2003 -
September 16, 2003 - In 1758 a Shawnee raiding party captured Mary Jemison, a 16 year old Irish immigrant living in Pennsylvania. The raiders killed her family and took her prisoner. Eventually her captors gave her to a Seneca family as compensation for a son lost in battle. She lived into her eighties, and despite several offers of freedom, she remained with her adopted people. Jemison's real life experience is the basis for St Paul native Deborah Larsen's novel "The White". She heard the story shortly after moving to Pennsylvania to teach at Gettysburg College. She told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr, she tracked down an oral history of Mary's story taken down by a local doctor, but she thought it was rather stilted.
September 17, 2003 - Minneapolis school district officials are hearing lots of complaints about a plan to build a new kindergarten through eighth school to serve neighborhoods near the Mississippi River. Parents and community activists are particularly concerned about the proposed closing of the area's current middle school. Following a public hearing on the school realignment plan Tuesday night, several school board members said they'll probably need more time to study their options. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
September 18, 2003 -
September 24, 2003 -
October 2, 2003 - MPR’s Dave Molpus interviews Betty McCollum, member of the U.S. House representing Minnesota's 4th Congressional District, about legislation in Congress to normalize trade with Laos. The U.S. suspended trade relations because of political and religious suppression by the Lao government dating to the mid-1970s.
October 21, 2003 - In the days after Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone's death in 2002’, politicians from across the political spectrum said they would help build a memorial to him at a St. Paul community center. Congress appropriated nearly nine-million dollars to build the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building on the site of Neighborhood House on St. Paul's West Side.