Minnesota University Known as Hostile to Minorities Is Vandalized by Swastikas

Parent Cafe
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<p>AP --ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Bisharo Iman hoped college in St. Cloud would be different than attending high school there — no more taunts of “Go back to your country” aimed at her Somali dress, no more being slammed into lockers.</p>

<p>“I did get away from it — for a while,” said Iman, a junior business major at St. Cloud State University.</p>

<p>That was before a frightening six-week stretch in November and December when vandals carved or scrawled more than a dozen swastikas and other racist images on campus walls, elevators and bathroom stalls.</p>

<p>The spate came as a setback to this central Minnesota university, which has spent more than $1 million, thousands of hours and untold energy in recent years trying to undo its reputation as hostile toward racial and ethnic minorities, an image so entrenched that some refer to the surrounding town as “White Cloud....</p>

<p>“What I would hope is that people would connect the dots,” said Myrle Cooper, a retired St. Cloud State professor who is black. “This is hardly a rare occasion.”</p>

<p>In 2002, Cooper and another black professor sent letters to several dozen high schools and churches in the Twin Cities urging minority students not to attend St. Cloud State, warning of a “long and sordid record of racism.” He said he’d do the same today.</p>

<p>About the same time as Cooper and his colleague were writing their letters, St. Cloud State settled a federal class action lawsuit filed by current and former faculty members who alleged that school officials had discriminated against Jews and other minority groups for years.
Swastikas</a> undermine university?s bid to heal - Race & ethnicity - MSNBC.com</p>

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<p>Yes, this has been very unnerving, as it is still unclear who is putting up the graffiti. That has historically been a rather non-diverse part of the state, so the community surrounding the college still needs some consciousness-raising on these issues, but now seems to be rallying to the idea of public opposition to the racist vandalism on the campus.</p>

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<p>I believe the Minneapolis area has had an increase in crime that is generally blamed on the rather large increase in minority and minority refugee population in the city. With many St Cloud kids coming from the Minn. area they may have some resentment over the changes in “their” city they view as negative.</p>