Is St. Cloud really this hostile? (residence, college, diversity)

[pirate_lafitte]

I have read stories about St. Cloud and how race relations aren't exactly "good". From what I have read tensions in St. Cloud(especially between blacks and the police) have been tense at best. It is quite sad because I almost decided to go to college at SCSU. Can anyone give more insight about St. Cloud? Hopefully this is just a few bad apples.

[coastali]

just returned from st. cloud after taking my son to school there and it was awesome. everyone we ran into was pleasant, no negativity directed towards any ethnicity that we encountered. sorry you had a bad experience,- it is still one of the remaining MN nice towns.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by coastali

just returned from st. cloud after taking my son to school there and it was awesome. everyone we ran into was pleasant, no negativity directed towards any ethnicity that we encountered. sorry you had a bad experience,- it is still one of the remaining MN nice towns.

I have never been to St. Cloud, but the things I have heard have posed questions for me, such as "will I encounter hostility as a black man in St. Cloud?". That is all. I don't know for sure. I must take a tour of MN first.

[mudmuffin]

They've had some problems there in the past. Unfortunately I can't exactly remember the incidents.

I'd suggest that you check it out for yourself. Also check with the local police to see what their take is on it.

The difference between racism in the north and south is that in the south it is out in the open. Up north for the most part it's not always obvious to people that it's racism.

[santos]

I heard this too, from a recent grad of the college. He said there was an active branch of the KKK too, and religious zealots.

[golfgal]

There have been some pretty serious incidences around SCSU, including a riot a few years back. I do know of one person that moved to St. Cloud and was out running and was mugged at knife point. He was a stellar high school cross country runner from Africa minding his own business. I still think that the problems are few and far between but since St. Cloud isn't a major metro area when things do happen they are big stories and are well publicized.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by golfgal

There have been some pretty serious incidences around SCSU, including a riot a few years back. I do know of one person that moved to St. Cloud and was out running and was mugged at knife point. He was a stellar high school cross country runner from Africa minding his own business. I still think that the problems are few and far between but since St. Cloud isn't a major metro area when things do happen they are big stories and are well publicized.

They may be few and far between, but it does make one think "is the whole state like this?", especially those personally who are seeking prospective residence. I plan to go to MN to see the state for myself, but events like that can feel discouraging.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

They may be few and far between, but it does make one think "is the whole state like this?", especially those personally who are seeking prospective residence. I plan to go to MN to see the state for myself, but events like that can feel discouraging.

I have lived in many parts of the state and NO the whole state isn't like this. You would be hard pressed to find a state in the union that hasn't had some kind of issue like this. Again, we are talking ONE riot and a few personal incidences, 99.9% of the people in MN are never going to experience any kind of violence.

[Jocelyneh]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I have lived in many parts of the state and NO the whole state isn't like this. You would be hard pressed to find a state in the union that hasn't had some kind of issue like this. Again, we are talking ONE riot and a few personal incidences, 99.9% of the people in MN are never going to experience any kind of violence.

Absolutely agree.

I am biracial and moved here just over 3 years ago from England. I have found many friends here and have never encountered racial violence at all. I also know of many blacks who feel more settled here because there is less violence than the Chicago, Florida areas they came from.

The stories you hear happen generally when drunken yobs get together and fights happen, race is just an excuse used to allow fights. Fights happen here among anyone who wants to fight, and they will use any excuse to find differences to fight upon, race is just an easy target. Yet, it's so easy to avoid trouble because most people couldn't really careless.

However, the main problem for St. Cloud is that it is a small town full of people from even smaller towns - it is an area of parochialism. The only thing that probably separates St Cloud out from the Twin Cities is the rapidity of the diversity, whereas in TC there's a longer history of diversity and acceptance, St. Cloud is learning to adjust and deal with it albeit slowly. Thus, people may voice antidiversity statements but generally it comes from ignorance and narrow-mindedness without violence accompanying it, but it usually extends to all areas not just race. People are just learning to deal with different mindsets.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by santos

I heard this too, from a recent grad of the college. He said there was an active branch of the KKK too, and religious zealots.

Yeah right. I suspect the "recent grad" you speak of was pulling your leg.