Dayton calls for St. Cloud human rights office

ST. PAUL - St. Cloud needs a state human rights office, Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday as questions mount about economic differences between white and black Minnesotans.
“I promised I will put that in my supplemental budget,” the governor told reporters about spending adjustments he will propose when legislators return to St. Paul.
The state Human Rights Department had a one-man St. Cloud office, funded by state and other money, which recently closed when the employee resigned. Dayton wants to establish a permanent office in the city that has had a history of racial tension.
A St. Cloud office would be the only one other than the department’s headquarters in downtown St. Paul.
Racial incident s have been reported in St. Cloud for years. Earlier this year, federal Education Department officials were in town as part of their regular monitoring since a 2010 civil rights incident. Other incidents have been reported at St. Cloud State University and elsewhere. The Human Rights Department’s job is to reduce discrimination and to make sure businesses seeking state contracts obey equal employment laws.
On Monday, Dayton acknowledged that the racial makeup of greater Minnesota communities is changing, with immigrants and citizens with varied ethnic backgrounds moving there.
The governor said he will address “opportunities for people of color throughout the state to have full opportunity and be paid commensurate with others.”
An emphasis on racial financial disparities began last week when a U.S. Census Bureau report showed household income for black Minnesotans last year was $4,000 less than a year before, the only racial class that fell. It showed that blacks earn half of what whites are paid. The unemployment rate for Minnesota blacks stands at nearly 16 percent, compared to a 4 percent overall rate.
State Sen. Jeff Hayden, D-Minneapolis, said the report suggests state officials do not take the problem seriously. He criticized Dayton for suggesting a special legislative session because of a lack of walleyes in Lake Mille Lacs, but not for fiscal problems the state’s black population faces.
Leaders from both major political parties agree that black students in Minnesota schools do not receive education as good as received by others.
On Tuesday, Dayton met with NAACP chapter leaders from around the state, a meeting planned before the census report was released. He said that he will meet with them again.
Dayton said he was surprised by the census numbers. “The disparities are very, very distressing.”
He said that state councils dealing with minority issues need broader participation from those they serve. He said he is working to get more minorities involved in government, from hiring them to getting them to sit on state boards.