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.
April 3, 1996 - Midday examines Affirmative Action with guests Daniel Farber, University of Minnesota constitutional law professor; and John Skrentny, University of Pennsylvania sociology professor. Guests also answer listeners questions.
May 20, 1996 - State Senator Allan Spear reacts to US Supreme Court decision on a Colorado amendment.
August 5, 1996 - As part of the Voices of Minnesota series, MPR’s Chris Roberts talks with Lee Pao Xiong, Director of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. Xiong discusses Hmong history, culture, and Hmong role in Vietnam War.
August 5, 1996 - As part of the Voices of Minnesota series, MPR’s Chris Roberts talks with Lee Pao Xiong, Director of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. Xiong discusses further incoming Hmong immigration, social services, clans in the Hmong culture, and Xiong’s viewpoint on the main problems facing Hmong community.
September 11, 1996 - In connection with a local visit of the King and Queen of Sweden, Midday features a program about Sweden and Swedish immigrants to Minnesota. Studio guest is Mariann Tiblin, of the University of Minnesota; and phone guest is professor Byron Nordstrom of Gustavus Adolphus College. Tiblin and Nordstrom talk about Scandinavians and history on settlement in region.
September 25, 1996 - As part of a series on immigrant voices regarding immigration and foreign policy, MPR’s John Rabe interviews Tou Ger Xiong, a Hmong comedian and entertainer.
October 17, 1996 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on growing political involvement in Hmong community. 20+ years after the first Hmong refugees arrived in Minnesota, Hmong voter ranks have grown steadily, and more are involved in politics than ever before.
January 22, 1997 - Many state lawmakers spent a day away from the capitol to gain a closer look at the new federal welfare law and learn the effect on Minnesotans. State Welfare reform is the next step and as Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports, lawmakers, policy analysts and local officials are beginning to see just how far-reaching the changes will be.
January 22, 1997 - MPR's Lorna Benson reports that founders of a new Center for Cross-Cultural Health are hoping to minimize medical anxieties by better preparing Minnesota health care workers trying to deal with a cultural curveball.
February 4, 1997 - As some state lawmakers continue the task of drafting language for a state welfare reform bill....OTHERS are hearing from people bracing for the resulting effects. TODAY (THIS week) at the state capitol, parents of disabled children said they need to retain the help they now get from federal supplemental security income...or S-S-I. Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe reports: The new federal welfare reform law changes the definition of disability...making it more difficult for certain children to qualify as disabled. The state estimates that up to 32-hundred low-income children in Minnesota with disabilities could lose S-S-I benefits come July first. More EXACT numbers will be known once the federal governm