I'm fed up. I grew up in North St. Paul! I sent this letter in response.
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A March 23 letter from a North St. Paul resident complained that �socialist�
Minneapolis is �filled to the brim with hordes of disgruntled Hispanics, Somalis,
Hmong and African-Americans� who �take funds from America�s productive citizens.�
As someone who grew up in North St. Paul, I must respond.
To stereotype immigrants as �do-nothing constituents all demanding more government
benefits� is nothing short of ignorant. Obviously the letter-writer has never met
Somalis! He would be surprised at their level of literacy, as many arrived in the U.S.
already bi- or trilingual, and at their work ethic, since taking welfare is
discouraged by their faith.
Perhaps things are different now, but my mostly-white high school wasn�t filled to the
brim with high-achieving, college-bound students. Most of my female friends got
pregnant by their sophomore year and I saw lots of drugs, violence, illiteracy, and
shiftlessness. Sports, not academics, were emphasized, and I stood out painfully as
one of the few female bookworms as my graduating class (1983) may remember.
In contrast, minority students attend my college in high numbers, and the Somalis in
particular excel in our all-English classes. Imagine taking something like computer
science�-which is itself a language�-in a second language.
Minneapolis, which I hope to God IS �America�s capital of diversity,� is filled to the
brim with Hispanic, Somali, Hmong and African-Americans teachers, physicians, nurses,
social workers, scientists, and perhaps most disturbing to suburban Minnesotans,
candidates for public office. Being filled to the brim with white people didn�t
prevent North St. Paul from enduring a significant banking scandal, or an
insurance-fraud scheme that resulted in a tragic death by arson, or a child-porn
network run by the man who would have been my high-school counselor.
Whenever I visit North St. Paul, I hear about the flight of youth from the town and
the �brain drain� that has resulted. The letter I read on Saturday certainly reminds
me why I left.
Kristine Harley
1518 N.E. 4th Street
Minneapolis MN 55413
home: 612-782-0959
work: 612-338-1987
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