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**The  Status of Equal Opportunity for Minorities in Moorhead, Minnesota**

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**Chapter  1**

**Introduction**

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**The  Advisory Committee Report**

The purpose of this project is to study equal opportunity conditions  for minority residents in Moorhead, Minnesota. Information was collected along  racial and ethnic lines in order to discern possible disparities in  opportunity in the areas of (1) income and employment, (2) education, (3)  public safety, and (4) housing and public accommodation. 

Buttressing the data collected, an attitudinal survey of white  residents in the Moorhead community on their perceptions of equal opportunity  was undertaken to learn if the majority community thought minorities were  subject to unequal opportunity. Student interns, operating under the U.S.  Commission on Civil Right�s student volunteer program, conducted the survey  research. The survey was a scientifically drawn random sample of white  households.

The same survey was also conducted with minority households, and is  presented in this report with the survey results of the white households to  contrast differences in perception between the minority and nonminority  communities regarding equal opportunity in Moorhead. Student interns conducted  the survey as well.

The data and survey information are buttressed with testimony received  at a public fact-finding meeting held May 25 and 26, 1999, to solicit  information on race and ethnic relations and equal opportunity from public  officials, the minority community, and the general public. To ensure balance  in the testimony received, those invited to testify included representatives  with knowledge of civil rights and race and ethnic relations in the community  from government, industry, community organizations, and both the minority and  white communities. In addition, notice of the meeting was published in advance  of the meeting date in the *Federal  Register*, announcing the location, time, and agenda of the meeting. A  session was scheduled to allow any member of the public to address the  Advisory Committee.

Comments at the fact-finding meeting were received from (in order of  appearance): Morris L. Lanning, mayor; Harvey Stalwick (Concordia College);  Richard DuBord (Moorhead State University); Bruce R. Anderson (Moorhead Public  Schools); Jeff Kemink (Norwest Bank Minnesota West); Ron Jordan (State Bank of  Fargo); David Berg (Crystal Sugar); Ron Baker (Minnesota Workforce Center);  Dianna Hatfield (Moorhead Healthy Community Initiative); Yoke-Sim Gunartane  (Cultural Diversity Project); Phil Holtan (Concordia College); Abner Arauza  (Moorhead State University); Grant Weyland, Wayne Arnold, and Nancy Taralson  (Moorhead Police); Richard Henderson (Moorhead Human Rights Commission); Joe  Parise (Public Defenders Office); John Hulden (Trinity Lutheran Church);  Sharon Altendorf (Guadalupe Project); Duke Schempp, Lisa Diagos, and Theodora  Mengi (People Escaping Poverty Project); Michelle Hansen (Legal Services);  Jill Danielson, Alisa Rodriguez, Vicky Ortiz, Rachel Arroyo, and Paula  Strom-Sell (Mujeres Unidas); Harold Ironshield (Northern Plaines Media  Consortium); Hector Martinez (Centro Cultural); and Josie Gonzalez (Minnesota  Church Anti-Racism Initiative). 

Individuals speaking at the public session were (in order of  appearance): Pete Padilla, Sonia Hohnadel, Juanita Yzaguirre, Anita Flores  Sunigi, Pamela Renville, Darlene Renville, Carolyn Renville, Vicente Amoles,  Steve Amenyo, Carey Lyon, and James Carpenter. Comments received from all  individuals and organizations were considered and are included in the  Committee�s report.

***Organization  and Focus***

This study examines equal opportunity for minorities in Moorhead,  Minnesota, in four areas: (1) income and employment, (2) public education in  grades K�12, (3) public safety, and (4) housing and public accommodation. In  chapter two, each area is a specific section. Following an introduction, each  section has three parts: survey of the attitudes of white residents,  commentary on the issue from public and organization officials, and commentary  on the issue from members of the minority community. In chapter 3, the  Committee presents its findings and recommendations. 

Harvey  Stalwick, professor of social work at Concordia College  (Moorhead, MN), opened the Committee�s meeting with testimony about the  pernicious effects stereotyping and racism have on a community.

> 
The  color of one�s skin can become a code for sweeping generalizations about  persons, generalizations which contribute to a denial of equal opportunity and  to social isolation. 

In  a racist culture, racial features can be used for grounds to discriminate and  exploit in the workplace as well as institutions of education and training,  and this can result in unemployment, high school dropouts, low literacy rates,  as well as low technical skills.

People  [then] make generalizations [on the basis of color], and the accompanied  culture of despondency is attributed to cultural shortcomings. Persons�  unique assets, their culture, their history, spiritual values, skills, and  credentials all vanish into thin air because of this generalization. As a  result of this nonrecognition and low citizen status, individuals [minorities]  are often marginalized and alienated.[1]

Sharon Altendorf from the Catholic Diocese of Moorhead and the  Guadalupe Project stated that minorities, and the Latino community in  particular, are not newcomers to the Fargo-Moorhead area. Still, these groups  suffer disproportionately from unequal opportunity. The Guadalupe Project is a  coordinated ministry of the three Catholic parishes of Moorhead and Dillworth.  It provides both a welcoming outreach and pastoral services to Latinos.  Altendorf told the Committee:

> 
The  greater metropolitan Fargo-Moorhead area has become worse in its acceptance of  Latinos. Latinos began coming to this area over 80 years ago, but today if  they are seen, the perception and the word used still say they are the  migrants or the people on welfare, the youth gangs, they�re into drugs. 

My  concerns go on a day-to-day basis: for example, the inability of Latinos to  get a job. Recently a local television reporter had a story on the large  number of available jobs and no one to fill them. That same day our church  received a flyer from Job Services in Fargo pleading for jobs for those who  lost their jobs at Federal Beef. Also, that same day I spoke with two Latino  families representing six workers who for over two weeks had put in  applications at every place they saw �Now Hiring� signs and had not  received one call back. And they questioned why. They said racism. 

In  the alternative education program, 80 percent are minorities. That is just  unacceptable. 

In  my work with the penal system, I find the percentages of Latinos with plea  bargaining and incarcerated disproportionate. Minorities will tell you that  the laws of sentencing are okay if they are practiced equally. But often they  need someone who understands their language and customs to defend them. They  said that the defense lawyers advise them that they cannot get a fair trial  here, even if they are innocent, they need to accept a plea bargain or run the  risk of maximum sentence. And they also said judges, police, prosecuting and  defending attorneys are all part of the same system [and] will not challenge  each other to defend them.[2]

***Resident  Survey***

The  Committee�s fact-finding meeting was buttressed by a survey of resident  attitudes in Moorhead regarding equal opportunity for minorities. The  survey of randomly selected households in Moorhead was conducted by telephone.  Student interns from Concordia College and Moorhead State University under  supervision of staff of the Midwestern Regional Office of the U.S. Commission  on Civil Rights did the actual survey. The survey consisted of a series of 27  questions, and survey questions discussed at the beginning of each section are  related to the topical area. One hundred forty-four white households were  surveyed; the survey has an error rate of 7.5 percent and a tolerance range of  0.10. Forty-seven minority households were surveyed. Survey results of  minority households are considered representative as the sample was randomly  drawn and the sample size exceeded 30, but the small sample size does not  allow for a definitive margin of error or tolerance range. 

Four initial questions were asked of area residents about the  importance of race relations in the Moorhead area in an attempt to discern  attitudes regarding any improvement in race relations in recent years. To  these preliminary questions, Moorhead residents were asked whether they: (1)  strongly agreed, (2) agreed, (3) were undecided, (4) disagreed, (5) strongly  disagreed, or (6) did not know to the following statements:

-  Equal opportunity and full integration  for minorities in Moorhead are important for the community.Equal opportunity for minorities has  improved in Moorhead in the past 10 years.Race relations and equal opportunity  for minorities are social problems in Moorhead.The media in the Fargo-Moorhead area  generally depict minorities favorably and report on the minority community in  a fair manner.
**TABLE        1.1****Survey of Resident Attitudes        on Race Relations**

*[White        percents are set out first; minority percents are beneath in        parenthesis] *
      **Strongly        agree ****Agree ****Disagree****Strongly        disagree**1.        Equal opportunity and full integration for minorities are important 36%        (49%) 56%         (30%)7%        (16%)1%        (5%)2.        Equal opportunity for minorities has improved in the past 10 years15%        (0%)80%        (33%)3%        (41%)0%        (26%)3.        Race relations and equal opportunity for minorities are social problems        in Moorhead 14%        (29%)62%        (38%)24%        (22%)0%        (11%)4.        The media generally depict minorities favorablyand        report on the minority community in a fair manner 7%         (4%)67%         (32%)23% (38%)3%        (26%)
*Source:         U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Midwestern Regional        Office, �Survey of Racial and Ethnic Attitudes in Moorhead,        Minnesota,� 1999.*

Ninety-two percent of responding white  residents indicated that equal opportunity and full integration for minorities  in Moorhead are important for the community. Similarly, 95 percent of white  residents indicated that equal opportunity for minorities has improved in  Moorhead in the past 10 years. Among minorities, 79 percent believe that equal  opportunity and full integration in Moorhead are important for the community.  But in sharp contrast to the white community, only 33 percent agreed that  equal opportunity for minorities has improved in Moorhead in the past 10  years. 

Both minorities and white residents in Moorhead consider race relations  a social problem. Seventy-six percent of responding white residents and 64  percent of minority respondents indicated that race relations and equal  opportunity for minorities are social problems in Moorhead. But whereas white  residents did not feel that the media portrayed minorities in a negative light  (74 percent of responding white residents said the media in the Fargo-Moorhead  area generally depicted minorities favorably and reported on the minority  community in a fair manner), 64 percent of minorities thought that the media  in the Fargo-Moorhead area generally did not depict minorities favorably or  fairly. The results are shown in table 1.1.

**Moorhead Demographics and Commerce**

***Population***

Moorhead  is situated on the western border of Minnesota on the Red River, 231 miles  northwest of Minneapolis. The city is in Clay County and borders Fargo, North  Dakota. The 1990 census recorded the population of Moorhead to be 32,295, a  number little changed from the 1980 census, which put the population at 29,998  residents, and the 1970 census count of 29,687 individuals. The population of  Clay County has similarly been stable. The 1990 census reported a county  population of 50,422. In 1980, there were 49,327 residents; in 1970, the  county had a population of 46,608.

Historically the Moorhead community has been predominantly white,  northern European in terms of its ethnicity and cultural influences. In recent  decades the area has become more diverse. Racial and ethnic minorities  remain a small, but growing, segment of the Moorhead population. The 1990  census counted 152 (0.5 percent) African Americans; 890 (2.7 percent) Latinos;  441 (1.4 percent) American Indians; and 355 (1.1 percent) Asians and Pacific  Islanders. 

**TABLE        1.2****Population, City of          Moorhead**
    **Number****Percent**White          (non-Latino)
30,457
94.3%Latino8902.7%American        Indian4411.4%Black1520.5%Asian
355
1.1%Total32,295 
*Source: U.S.        Commission on Civil Rights, Midwestern Regional Office, from 1990          U.S. census.*

The  latest information from city  demographers indicates that the city�s population of persons of color has  increased from 4.5 percent in 1990 to 6.1 percent in 1997, and the people who  are Hispanic or Latino in ethnic background have increased from 2.4 percent in  1990 to 3.4 percent in 1997, with people moving to Moorhead from the southern  United States and Mexico.[3]

Many of the Asian American residents in Moorhead are students at the  local colleges or university. The Asian American and African American  communities are relatively newer to the Moorhead area and are the smallest  minority constituencies, so this report focuses on equal opportunity for  Latinos and American Indians. The Committee, however, found that similar  issues affecting the Latino and American Indian communities also affected the  Asian and African American communities, and instances of discrimination  against individuals of these two groups are discussed in this report.

***Family  Conditions***

Family conditions vary widely, however, along racial and ethnic lines  in Clay County. For white households, only 17.2 percent of the families are  single-parent households. For Latinos, 36.8 percent of all family households  are single-parent homes, and for American Indians 67.1 percent of all family  households are headed by a single parent.
**TABLE        1.3****Single-Parent          Households, Clay County**   **Percent**White17.2%Latino 36.8%American          Indian 67.1%
*Source:         U.S.          Commission on Civil Rights, Midwestern Regional Office, from 1990 U.S.          census.*

***Agriculture  and Industry***

Total  employment in the city of Moorhead is 14,087. Manufacturing jobs account for  just 8 percent (1,123) of total employment. The unemployment rate in the area  is low, less than 5 percent. The  Red River Valley of the North is one of the most fertile and productive  agricultural regions in the world, so agribusiness is essential to the  city�s economy.

There  are no large industrial operations in Moorhead. The largest private employers  are American Crystal Sugar (refined beetsugar, 450 employees); Moorhead  Electric (electrical contractor, 135); Hornbachers Foods (retail grocery,  135); K-Mart (retail, 115); Kost Brothers (concrete and gravel, 100); Festival  Foods (retail grocery, 70); Anheuser-Busch (malting plant, 60); Target  (retail, 60); and Coca-Cola Bottling (bottling, 50).
**TABLE          1.4****Largest Private          Employers in Moorhead**  American          Crystal Sugar450Moorhead          Electric135Hornbachers          Foods135K-Mart115Kost          Brothers100Festival          Foods70Anheuser-Busch60Target60Coca-Cola          Bottling50
*Source:         Moorhead          Chamber of Commerce, 1998.*

Education is Moorhead�s biggest business, and the majority of those  employed in the city are engaged in education. Moorhead  State University employs 800 persons, the public school district employs 700,  and Concordia College has 550 employees. Moorhead has eight elementary schools  with an enrollment of 3,485, and one junior high and one senior high with 888  and 1,480 students, respectively. Many students in Moorhead attend private and  parochial schools. There are 10 K�12 parochial schools with a total  enrollment of 2,017 and two private K�6 schools with 550 students.

In addition, there are three postsecondary educational institutions in  the Moorhead community, which add to the city�s indigenous population.  Moorhead State University has an enrollment of about 6,500; Concordia College,  a private church-related college has approximately 3,000 students; and  Northwest Technical College, which consists of several campuses, has an  enrollment in Moorhead of nearly 1,200 students.

**Civil Rights Issues Affecting Minorities**

Despite  the low numbers of minorities, civil rights issues regarding minorities have  been of increasing interest due to the significant inflow of Latino residents  to the city during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, there were fewer than 300  Latinos in Moorhead. The number of Latinos in Moorhead more than doubled  during the 1980s, and population estimates show a continued surge in the  Latino population in the city and Clay County during the 1990s.

In the mid-1990s, the city of Moorhead initiated the Moorhead Healthy  Community Initiative. Part of that initiative involved a survey of community attitudes in Moorhead. Two-thousand Moorhead adults were  asked a series of 125 questions about their attitudes on family life, schools,  quality of life, and community values. Included in the survey were questions  pertaining to racial and ethnic discrimination.

Residents  were asked to respond to the following question: �How much, if at all, do  you think Moorhead�s racial/ethnic minorities are discriminated against in  each of the following situations?� The percentage of those responding  �some� or �a great deal� are shown in parenthesis: looking for work  (55 percent), looking for housing (58 percent), in Moorhead�s schools (36  percent), seeking medical help (19 percent), in neighborhoods (53 percent),  dealing with police (48 percent), by churches (11 percent), shopping in  Moorhead stores (28 percent), dealing with city government (24 percent), and  in the workplace (31 percent).
**TABLE        1.5****Resident Survey on          Discrimination**  *Percentage          of those surveyed believing minorities in Moorhead          encounter discrimination in the following areas:*  Housing58%Education36%Health          care19%Neighborhoods53%Police48%Churches11%Shopping28%City          government24%Employment31%
*Source:        Moorhead Chamber of Commerce, 1998.*

Additionally,  when citizens were asked if they would support new efforts in Moorhead �to  reduce discrimination, even if it cost more in taxes or meant that something  else in the City would have to be cut back,� 43 percent responded that they  �would strongly support this,� 43 percent responded they �might support  this,� and 14 percent responded they �would not support this.�

On  July 4, 1998, the city experienced its first major  civil rights disturbance. It occurred in the Romkey Park area on the city�s  east side, a predominantly Latino area. That evening police were initially  called in to respond to a reported domestic situation. As officers moved to  apprehend an individual involved in the domestic disturbance, area Latino  residents gathered.

As tensions increased, the police used pepper spray against the crowd,  and canine units were used for crowd control. Reinforcement police units from  surrounding communities were called in response to reports of officers being  pelted by bottles and other objects. The Romkey Park area was eventually  surrounded by police units, and several residents were arrested and charged  with obstructing the legal process. There was damage to some police cars and  other minor property damage, including a bicycle thrown through a window of an  apartment building. Area residents charge the police overreacted,  indiscriminately using mace and other abusive tactics on Latino citizens.****

[1]    Harvey Stalwick, statement before the Minnesota Advisory Committee to the    U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, fact-finding meeting, Moorhead, MN, May 24    and 25, 1999, transcript, pp. 24�43 (hereafter cited as Transcript).

[2]    Sharon Altendorf, Transcript, pp. 245�55.

[3]    U.S. census update, 1996. The statement on individuals moving to Moorhead    from the southern United States and Mexico is from survey responses of    minority households.