ANTI-RACISM INSTITUTIONAL AUDIT
Institutional History
1849–2006
Presented by the Ramsey County Anti-Racism Leadership Team
February 2008
Ramsey County Community Human Services - 2013
Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
The Mission Statement of the Anti-Racism Leadership Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
The Vision Statement of the Anti-Racism Leadership Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
History Document Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
The Homework Assignment: Exploring Institutional History Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
Exploring Institutional History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Original Purpose of the Institution’s Mission, Worldview and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Organizational Structure, Boundaries, Authority, Accountability and Power . . . . . . . . .
6
Building the Institutional Walls of Racial Exclusion / Segregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Communication Over the Walls of Exclusion (into the 1960’s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
Institutional Changes (1970 to present) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
Ramsey County: How It Was Formed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Turn Of The Century Social Conditions and Political Realities In America . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Snapshot of American History for People of Color: The Progressive Era. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
American Indians: Discrimination 1895 to 1920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Health and Mortality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
Injustices of Law Enforcement / Justice System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
African Americans: Discrimination from 1895 to 1920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
Health and Mortality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
Injustices of Law Enforcement / Justice System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
Mexican Americans: Discrimination 1895 to 1920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
Racial Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Injustices of Law Enforcement / Justice System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Chinese Americans: Discrimination 1895 to 1920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Racial Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
Injustices of Law Enforcement / Justice System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
Introduction: A Limited Chronological Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
Chronological Review of the Social Conditions, Legislative Impact, and
Changes in Ramsey County Community Human Service Development through 2006 . . . . 20
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Ramsey County Community Human Services - 2013
Preface
This report is the work of the Ramsey County Anti Racism Leadership Team:
2005/06 members: Hassan Ali, (Susan Ault ’07), (Gayle Carter ’08), Sue Cha, (Marisol Chiclana-Ayala
‘06), (Nancy Cincotta ‘06), Richard Coleman, Deb Flies, Carol Fogarty, (Tammy Funk ‘07), Katherine
Harp (unable to participate – slot left vacant ‘06), (Ophelia Herrera ’07), (Thom Johnson ’07), Jules Laing,
Monty Martin, (Jen McConnell ’06),
Roz McDonald, (Tiffinie Miller ’07), (Carrie (Morris) Owens ’06), (Frank Sanchez ‘06), Toua Thao, (MyTien Ton ’07), Stephanie Upchurch, Darryl Walker, Angela (Weaver) Conrath, Youa Yang, Angela
Yeong.
2006/07 new members: PaDer Vang, Jonna Shelomith, Kim Gale, Jim Anderson, Nancy Houlton, (Gail
Mollner ’07), Roy Adams, and Cam Counters.
2007/08 new members: Stephani Gunter, Steve Hildebrandt, Jackie Meyer, Mary Nelson, Saba Teshome,
Caroline Wulf and Stephanie Xiong (unable to participate – slot left vacant ‘08).
We want to express our thanks to James Addington, Carmen Valenzuela, and Jeff Agaton-Howes of the
Minnesota Collaborative Anti-Racism Initiative (MCARI) for the excellent training, guidance and vision
needed to move our work forward.
We are also grateful for the support and endorsement of the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and
Ramsey County Manager, Dave Twa.
And finally, we could not have done this work without the sacrifices, commitment, growth and
outstanding research completed by the 2005-2006 Anti-Racism Leadership Team Members. Thank you.
We are aware of how much is not included in this report and apologize for any errors or omissions of
historical fact. We believe that we have included the key learnings about the shaping of Ramsey County
Human Services with respect to race and racism.
February 2008
Note:
Names indicated in parentheses, are those whose terms with ARLT have expired (year indicated) or
members have left for other reasons.
1
Introduction
In 1999, Paul Kirkwold, County Manager for Ramsey County met with County staff and shared his vision of The
Ramsey County Model Employer Initiative. As Mr. Kirkwold was preparing to move into retirement, he made an
insightful and profound observation regarding the changing demographics of Ramsey County. He indicated that
Ramsey County was becoming increasingly diverse and more and more of it’s citizens no longer resembled him, a
“white male”. Mr. Kirkwold believed that if we, as a public government agency wished to continue to deliver
meaningful and effective services for the changing population that we would have to plan for and change how we
attracted and maintained a diverse workforce and provided culturally competent services to our constituents.
RCCHS began to take a critical look at service outcomes for clients we served and the retention rates for employees
of color. Upon further analysis, a clear pattern of disparate outcomes began to unfold. Clientele of color in a
variety of service areas were either overrepresented or underrepresented, and frequently experienced less positive
outcomes than their white counterparts. A similar pattern was true for employees of color. While on one hand there
was a significant increase in the hiring of persons of color over the past few years, the retention rates for employees
of color raised questions that need to be explored. Employees of color were exiting agency employment at rate 17%
greater than their white colleagues.
In 2002, RCCHS senior management formed five Action Teams. These were the 1) Contracting, 2) Leadership, 3)
Training, 4) Recruitment and Retention, and 5) Hiring Action Teams. The purpose of these teams was to research
issues and causes of concerns, and to recommend corrective actions in these areas to improve the disparate
outcomes for clients and staff.
In 2004, RCCHS began working with the Minnesota Collaborative Anti-Racism Initiative (MCARI). After
department-wide training aimed at increasing the understanding of racism, twenty-five staff from across all work
levels of the Human Services Department were interviewed and selected to begin leading this endeavor. In May
2005, the newly formed team experienced a number of intensive training experiences to learn common language
and gain necessary skills to do this work as the Ramsey County Anti-Racism Leadership Team (ARLT). The
purpose of this team is to coordinate and direct the agency’s efforts in becoming an anti-racist, multicultural
organization. The team is also charged with the development of a 20-25 year strategic plan to dismantle
institutional racism within our agency and the community we serve. The following historical audit is the result of
extensive research by the Team and helps us understand how Ramsey County Human Services came to be the
organization that it is.
To effectively dismantle institutional racism, it is imperative to understand the history, social forces, conditions, and
factors that underlie the development of the agency.
2
The Mission Statement of the Anti-Racism Leadership Team:
“Recognize racism in our institution and implement a
transformational strategy for change”
The Vision Statement of the Anti-Racism Leadership Team:
“Ramsey County Human Services will be an anti-racist,
multicultural organization”
3
History Document Introduction
So, why was this Institutional History and limited chronology written?
The Anti-Racism Leadership Team (ARLT) had to do some homework to understand, and to be able to explain,
how the Ramsey County Welfare Department (known today as Ramsey County Community Human Services
Department) came to be. Who decided it was needed and why, and who was it designed to serve?
It seems like a simple and obvious answer doesn’t it? But when you begin to look back and really begin to
understand how and why “welfare” came to be, the simple and obvious answer takes on a tone and systematic
intention that is very sobering and is less than honorable.
A colleague on the ARLT observed, “The welfare system has really created a way to keep poor people poor. A way
to control and have power over the people that society fears.”
Given what we have learned doing this homework assignment, the researching and exploring our own agencies
“construction”, maybe this statement is not really too far off base.
While this history is not an exhaustive documentation, the ARLT believes that sufficient research and man-hours
have been invested to provide a glimpse into the social welfare mechanism that has been constructed so that we can
begin to make some individual choices:

You can ignore this information and “keep-on keepin’-on”;
OR

You can join in making intentional changes within our agency.
4
The Homework Assignment:
Exploring Institutional History Introduction
At the conclusion of the Antiracism Leadership Teams initial 3-day training with the Department’s consultants,
MCARI, in May 2005 the group was charged with a homework assignment.
The following pages provide the reader with the homework questions and the groups’ answers. Our answers were
found as we explored the Department’s genesis and documented those finding in the History given in following
pages. Even with that information, these answers did not come easily – the team spent many meetings discussing,
digesting, and coming to terms with the magnitude of the questions.
The process took us places you never thought you would visit with your co-workers.
We argued, we discussed, we cried, we laughed and we became a stronger, more committed team, as we began to
see each other as distinct individuals who’s skin color was a mere introduction to the person within. That’s why it
took until February 2007 to pull this document together – we pulled ourselves apart and put us back together, and
began to understand.
5
Exploring Institutional History
Original Purpose, Structure and Constituency
Based on the research presented earlier, the original constituencies were white immigrant groups living in Ramsey
County. These immigrants were predominantly French Canadians, Germans, Swedish and Norwegian. Racial,
ethnic and cultural identity was explicitly indicated. Census information and how the population in the state and
counties were identified and counted evidence this. For example, only “civilized Indians, black males, and mixed
blood over twenty one could vote.” Statements like these were coupled with voting rights restrictions for
communities of color until 1868. There was minimal information regarding the enforcement or protection of voting
rights for communities of color at the turn of the century. Also census information from 1930 indicated that
“whites” constituted 98.3% of the county population. As of the year 2000, whites made up 77.4% of the county
population.
Original Purpose of The Institution’s Mission, Worldview and Culture
The research indicated that counties were subsidiaries of the state. Counties governed its citizens, public
administration, taxation, infrastructure, law enforcement and the administration of public aid and welfare.
The institution’s mission, worldview and culture appeared to resonate Anglo Saxon domination coupled
with nativism and Social Darwinism. This worldview influenced the counties’ social and political
thinking. This was evidenced by legislative attitudes that expressed “fear” regarding the mass migrations
to the area after the Civil War. In addition, this mindset contributed to the general belief that the poor
were undesirable, which resulted in mistreatment of the poor and the discouragement of pauperism in
early county life.
Organizational Structure, Boundaries, Authority, Accountability and Power
The structure of the county was a hierarchal governing board made up of all white constituents. There
was clear expression of identity and purpose throughout the County structure. County authority was
granted and legitimized by the State of Minnesota. Access into power positions was limited. County
officials were appointed or elected by the county constituency or local government. County officials were
accountable to the County Board, and the State and Federal governments via the Federal Social Security
Act.
Building the Institutional Walls of Racial Exclusion / Segregation
From the inception of Ramsey County as a political entity in 1849 people of color were intentionally excluded. No
evidence was discovered which suggests their inclusion in the design, structure or constituency of the County. In
fact, until the 1930’s, voting restrictions continued to be imposed on people of color (i.e. “civilized Indians, black
males, and mixed blood over twenty one could vote”). The combination of voting restrictions and such a small
number of people of color (1.7%) in the population, suggests the exclusion of people of color due in part to limited
numbers living in the region. Additional exclusion of people of color came in 1896, which was the year of the
Supreme Court decision of Plessey vs. Ferguson. This court decision established the basis for “separate but equal”
as the law of the land for whites and communities of color.
Social welfare systems were not designed to provide services to communities of color. For example, in 1853, New
York state and federal legislation was designed to create a juvenile justice system, also known as the orphan trains,
only for Italian, Irish and East European immigrant children. These children were to be raised in rural Protestant
6
homes away from the bad influences of the inner city. Juvenile courts routinely placed white children out of homes
for neglect and parental unfitness. No such options existed for children of color. Housing discrimination, job
discrimination, lack of access to medical services, and poverty conditions resulted in lower life expectancy and
higher infant mortality rates for communities of color. Many communities of color were left to their own resources.
Boarding schools, reservations, immigration exclusion acts, substandard segregated schools and facilities, poor law
enforcement, redlining, high rates of incarceration were all institutionalized, deliberately creating separation
between the races.
Communication Over the Walls of Exclusion (into the 1960’s)
By 1960, the Civil Rights Movement was well under way. The year 1965 marked the National Voting Rights and
Affirmative Action Acts. In spite of national efforts that sought equality for people of color, county welfare
practices still excluded people of color. In the 1960’s, national and local political philosophy on welfare focused on
reducing dependency on welfare. Individuals living on public assistance represented a gross waste of human
resources. Social welfare caseworkers had a challenge as they sought to release their clients from their dependency
on welfare. Actual quotes from Ramsey County Welfare staff reflected the intolerance for the poor. For example,
one staff stated that the “reason for staff turnover was because welfare recipients were not well mannered, well
behaved and were downright unpleasant and uncouth.” Ironically, the percentage of persons of color receiving
assistance was increasing at that time while less than 6% of the County’s workforce were people of color before the
early 1970’s. This made for problematic relationships.
Policies that stated that any household with an “able bodied man” in the home was not entitled to public welfare
systematically forced males from their home so their families could receive benefits. Caseworkers routinely visited
and searched residences for the signs of men living in the home. Actions such as this likely did not improve
working relationships with communities of color. The results of these decisions and activities, in an indirect and
direct way, continued to support the original race-based purpose and structure of the County welfare system. The
system was not originally designed for people of color. Policies and practices discouraged people of color from
accessing services because the outcomes proved more punitive to families than the limited benefits received were
worth. The family structures and living conditions of people of color were pathologized.
Institutional Changes (1970 to present)
The role of Ramsey County in the Civil Rights, American Indian Movement, and Farm Worker’s Movement of the
1960’s is unclear. As a government agency, the County is bound to follow state, local, and federal legislation.
Therefore, it is suspected that to the extent that these movements resulted in state and federal changes in the law,
Ramsey County would have had to abide.
Affirmative action laws, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunities Act of
1972, did not appear to have a dramatic impact on the hiring practices of Ramsey County. In 1975, the Southeast
Asian communities started to settle in the Ramsey County/St. Paul area. By 1976 only 6% of staff were persons of
color. The first culturally sensitive social worker positions were not developed until 1980. In 1984, Ramsey
County hired its first American Indian social worker to provide family-based services for Indian clients.
In the 1990s, an influx of East African immigrants came to this area as well. A demographic trend study suggests
continued growth in communities of color for the county.
In 1990, more culturally appropriate resources for clients were developed to serve growing communities of color in
Ramsey. More minority staff were hired. A diversity audit was completed in 1998. In 2002, three persons of color
were hired into senior management positions: two managers and one division director.
At the larger County level, in 1995, a Latino man was elected to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and
in 2005, the first African American female was elected to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners.
7
Ramsey County: How It Was Formed
The original inhabitants of what is now Minnesota were the Dakota and Ojibwa Indians. In the early 1800’s
European immigrants began arriving. French-Canadians, German, Swedish and Norwegian immigrants were the
dominant population groups. In 1849, the U.S. Congress created the Minnesota Territory, which attracted more
settlers.
On April 2, 1849 President Zachary Taylor appointed Alexander Ramsey the first Governor of the Minnesota
Territory. In a bill naming the county, the first reading listed it as St. Paul County; the second reading had it as
Ramsey County. So, on October 27th, 1849, Ramsey County was incorporated as a county.
The original boundaries of Ramsey County included all of the present day counties of Ramsey, Anoka, Isanti,
Kanabec and parts of Washington, Pine, Carlton, Aitkin, Mille Lacs and Hennepin Counties. The county population
for Ramsey was 2,197 residents with a total of 834 dwellings. The growth of the railroad system made Ramsey
County, and St. Paul in particular the transportation center of the Upper Midwest.
Poverty was fairly widespread throughout the 1800’s. In 1861 a set of “Special Poor Laws” gave county
administrators authority to “take charge of the poor.” These “Poor Laws” had roots in, and were derived from, the
English Poor Laws of 1601. These laws were the first systematic codification of English ideas about the
responsibility of the State to provide for the welfare of its citizens. They provided for taxation to fund relief
activities (welfare), set standards and distinguished between the deserving and undeserving poor. The relief was
local and community controlled. The poor in Minnesota and elsewhere were viewed as “highly undesirable
characters” and treated accordingly. In 1817, The New York Society for the Prevention of Pauperism was one of
the government’s first attempts to organize welfare programs and introduced the “friendly visitor” concept of social
workers.
Relief was classified into two categories; indoor and outdoor relief. Local community governing bodies
administered indoor relief, that is, through the establishment of “indoor” institutions such as almshouses for the
infirm, dependent persons; and workhouses for the able-bodied poor. To “discourage dependency” seeking and
receiving indoor relief was made as unpleasant as possible. This often included loss of personal property, the right
to vote, the right to move and some recipients had to wear the letter P on their clothing.
Outdoor relief came from local governments and was designed to provide assistance to persons in their own homes.
When sickness, disability, old age, or death of a spouse rendered persons dependent, they could petition for
assistance knowing that if they could still manage a household, their basic needs would be supplied in kind with
grants of food, fuel, clothing or with modest cash grants. Popular opinion at that time was that “outdoor relief made
things too easy on the poor who should be discouraged from the habit of poverty in every way possible.”
In 1850, the Ramsey County Board of Control opened a “poor farm” (almshouse) for “vagrants” who worked for
board and keep. Relief was given in the form of coal, groceries, wood, meals and lodging.
In 1862, the Social Security Administration started the Civil War Pension Program to benefit those veterans who
were disabled by war, as well as their widows and orphans. Other veterans at that time were not eligible for those
benefits.
In 1872, Ramsey County built a almshouse at a cost of $30,000 on the site of the present day Minnesota
Fairgrounds. The Ramsey County Poor Farm was built in 1885 on the site of the current Ramsey County Nursing
Home for the indenturing of children and orphans.
8
In 1883, The Ramsey County Board of Control was officially established to supervise all the programs and welfare
aid in the county under the name “United Charities”, though private charities and philanthropic organizations ran
most of the programs.
Census information during those times with regard to people of color in Ramsey County indicated:
Ethnicity
1860
1870
1880
1885
1890
1899
1910
Ojibwa & Dakota Indians
--
1
26
33
12
204
--
African American/Black
70
198
491
--
--
--
3,154
Mexican-Latino
No official records found before 1930; recorded population at
that time was 630.
The dashes (--) indicate no information available.
The manner in which early census data was gathered does not prove helpful when researching this type of
information. In the early years the U.S. Census counted people as being either white or “other”.
It is also important to remember that the Civil War ended in 1865 and the aftermath of relief efforts had a huge
impact on the federal governments and local municipalities as well. After the abolishment of slavery in 1865, many
state and local legislators feared that the large influx of Black people from the South would cause competition for
the jobs customarily held by unskilled whites, or worse, that they would become paupers and wards of the
subdivision (county). In addition, blacks were barred from voting. Voting rights discrimination persisted in
Minnesota until 1868 (two years prior to the adoption of the 15th Amendment), when the Minnesota legislature
amended the state constitution by granting permission to black males, “civilized” Indians, and “mixed bloods” over
the age of twenty-one. The legislature also abolished segregation in the Minnesota public school system;
interestingly this practice had been adopted ten years earlier, in 1858 by the City of St. Paul.
9
Turn Of The Century Social Conditions
And Political Realities In America
The 1800’s were an era of sweeping change for the nation. The growing immigrant population and reconstruction
following the Civil War period played a significant role as eastern cities were becoming flooded with new
immigrants.
This era was also known for transition as federal and state government began regulating social welfare.
Subsequently, legislation was introduced which was designed to “save poor white children of immigrants from
unfitness and poverty.” Juvenile Courts would routinely commit these children to institutions or foster homes for
dependency, poverty or neglect.
In response to the growing population and concern with bearing the addition burden of caring for more
impoverished people, in 1853 the New York Children’s Aid Society began a practice called “placing out”. They
gathered children who had been relegated to institutions and foster homes, most of whom were poor children from
Irish, Italian and Eastern European families, and began transporting them by train (hence the term “orphan train”),
sending them further west to be raised in rural Protestant homes away from the bad influences of their families and
inner city neighborhood. The planners and participants of placing out paid no attention to the ways that the practice
altered families and the majority of those placed out were not true orphans; children with living parents, as well as
brothers and sisters, were the norm, not the exception, in placing out. When the orphan trains stopped in a town, the
children were paraded from the depot into a local playhouse, opera house or church where they were put up on
stage, “the look resembled slave auctions.“ People came along and prodded them, and looked, and felt, and saw
how many teeth they had. Between 1853 and 1929 the orphan trains transported at least 200,000 children to
western states and away from their families.
Prior to WWI, European immigration was not regulated. This changed after the war began. Numerous immigrant
groups (Germans, Scotch-Irish, Swedes, Dutch, French, Spanish Portuguese and Jews) contributed to the emergence
of an American identity, although the Anglo-Saxon element was predominant in determining U.S. political, legal
and social development. The Anglo-Saxon legacy shaped political thoughts during the 1880s and took the form of
“nativism”- the view that native born Whites of “old stock (Nordic and Aryan ancestry) were superior to all other
groups.” Darwinism and racist imperialism reflected the adherence to Anglo-Saxon supremacy in literature and
science in the late 1800’s and early 1900s.
In 1900, people of color made up twelve percent of the U.S. population. African Americans totaled 11% of the
population, while American Indians, Japanese and Chinese represented less than 1%. Mexicans were counted
separately during this period. Interestingly enough, the disparate outcomes for people of color (African American in
this instance) were evident then and persist similarly today.
People of color did not fare as well as whites during the Progressive Era (1890 – 1913). Infant mortality rates were
twice that of whites. Mothers of color were almost twice as likely to die during childbirth as white mothers.
Furthermore, the life expectancy in 1900 for a white person was 48 years, whereas persons of color could expect 33
years. For example, in 1914, 260 people of color per 100,000 died from influenza and tuberculosis while 169
whites per 100,000 died from the same causes. These figures are indicative of the social conditions surrounding
populations of color.
The belief was that most people of color represented a separate class of people and this belief was reflected in the
social sciences of the day. Physiological and psychological studies were evoked to prove the innate inferiority of
racial minorities. In 1916, one psychologist stated that, according to test results, the low intelligence of SpanishIndian, Mexican and African American children was confirmed and concluded, “their dullness seems to be racial.”
Subsequent Army testing results plotted ethnic and racial groups along an intelligence continuum that placed Nordic
at the highest end, Alpines and Mediterranean’s in the middle, with African Americans at the lowest end.
10
Snapshot of American History for People of Color:
The Progressive Era
The urbanization of U.S. society was accompanied by significant population growth. In the 1880’s, U.S. population
was 50.1 million with 28% living in urban areas. By 1920 the population had swelled to 105 million with 51.0 %
living in urban areas.
The years from 1890 to 1913 were known as the Progressive Era. It was so named because of the economic, social
and political changes taking place during the time. Increased immigration, mass migration, WWI and its aftermath,
a burgeoning industrialization and increased urbanization dramatically changed the texture of U.S. society and
created rampant social problems.
While progressives and social reformers labored on behalf of workers, children and widows during this time, the
Progressive Era was anything but “progressive” to the four major communities of color living in this country. The
following descriptions of these populations are intended to help set a clear tone, context and power analysis of the
socio-cultural, historical and political realities for these communities. We believe these subsequent realities both
directly and indirectly influenced the shaping of the original constituency, purpose and structure of Ramsey County
Human Services.
The American Indians: Discrimination 1895 to 1920
Since the economic development of the United States could not have progressed without the displacement of and
neutralization of the Native population, the policies of extermination, isolation and assimilation that have competed
for ascendancy all required the definition of Natives as savage, being inferior and less than human, and with an
inferior culture that was deservedly doomed to extinction. The American Indians presented a unique conundrum.
They were significant because of the lands they held. As a group, unlike other populations of color, they were not
needed for cheap labor and they sought to maintain their separateness rather that strive for assimilation and
integration into US society. The American Indians rebelled against the White encroachment of their lands, fought
fiercely for their land and way of life and boldly rejected White domination. Their eventual subordination included
provisions for separating the tribes from their land, so the White reformers could concentrate on reforming the
American Indian.
White Protestant and Missionary societies became active in the education of the American Indians. They believed
that properly educating the American Indian children would cause them to move away from tribal communal values
and learn the meaning of individualism and raise them to the standards of Christian civilization. These “Friends of
the Indians”, as they were called, saw education as the proper vehicle through which American Indians could cast
their lot with other Americans. In 1819, Congress began to allocate modest sums of money for the employment of
“capable persons of good moral character” to instruct the American Indians in the mode of agriculture suited to their
situation and for teaching their children reading, writing, and arithmetic. These funds were distributed to the various
White missionary societies who were to develop schools on the reservations.
In the minds of the reformers, the day schools on the reservations were viewed as inadequate for raising American
Indian children to the standards of Christian civilization.
Many missionaries and reformers were so committed to their particular beliefs that they failed to learn about the
customs and beliefs that they were trying to erase. Manual labor and industrial instruction became a cornerstone in
the Indian education program. It was believed that manual training would lead tribes to sufficiency and reduce
dependency on the government dole. Attempts to implement “civilizing programs” on the reservations were not
succeeding. Reformers began to push for off-reservation boarding schools. The plains tribes, at the time, were
dependent on government support for the necessities of life. In many instances, food and materials supplied were
11
inadequate, insufficient and inappropriate. The conversion process from a hunting culture, to an agricultural one
was taking longer than the government and the reformers anticipated. Hagen (1979), however, attributed some of
the problems to blundering or outright fraud by White Christian reformers who profited from government contracts
by supplying reservations with shoddy goods or none at all. The poverty condition on the reservations did little to
encourage the tribes to embrace Christianity and/or the American way. The reservations thus, became “a poisonous
environment from which the children needed to be rescued”. The missionaries and reformers with persistent zeal
believed that the resolution of the “Indian problem” was to help the tribal children “shed the blanket” so they could
become a part of the American melting pot. American Indian boarding schools symbolized the new direction in
national policy. Thus, the off-reservation boarding schools grew in importance to reformers and American Indian
children, by the thousands, were taken from their parents and shipped to boarding schools across the county to be
“Americanized.”
Children as young as six years of age were enrolled in schools that held hundreds and sometimes thousands of
students in an institutional setting. The consequences were far-reaching for these children and their families.
Children were given English names and were directed to only respond to these names. Children were dressed and
groomed in a manner consistent with White American children. Indian boys received haircuts upon arrival despite
the fact that their hair had much symbolic value of their culture. Runaways were common and they were harshly
punished when apprehended. Large numbers of children died at these schools. Cemeteries adjacent to the schools
were filled with hundreds of grave markers. Student attendance ceased being voluntary and American Indian
parents who refused to give up their children would not receive supplies or would be incarcerated. Hundreds of
children returned to reservations after their education experience only to find that they were no longer able to
communicate with their families. Furthermore, the skills that they acquired were often useless on the reservation.
Despite all of these measures, the perception and treatment of the American Indians remained substandard.
Health and Mortality
At the turn of the 19th century, the American Indians population was 250,000. The population size was at its lowest
than at any other previous time. Tuberculosis was a serious problem and morbidity and mortality rates among
American Indians far exceeded those among Whites and African Americans.
Injustices of Law Enforcement /Justice System
The Dawes Act of 1887, stipulated that the President of the United States could allocate reservation land to
American Indians with the title kept in trust for 25 years by the United States. The Dawes Act sought to redistribute
American Indian land and to remove the tribe as the core of American Indian power. Disbanding tribes and
reservations would undermine solidarity and the cohesiveness of the American Indians.
Under that act, tribal lands were divided into tracts ranging from 40 to 160 acres. Family heads received the largest
allotments and individuals received smaller parcels. After the allotments were dispersed the remaining “surplus
lands” would be sold. Under this act, American Indians would become voting citizens if they lived away from the
tribe and became farmers. Since this stipulation went against tribal values, many American Indians lost their land
because they would not comply. Between 1887 and 1934 American Indians were separated from an estimated
86,000,000 acres of the total 138,000,000 acres they once called home. Most of the remaining land was desert or
semi-desert and useless to the white population.
Contracts and legal processes afforded little or no fairness for American Indians as treaties were routinely broken
and Congressional acts favored White Americans. Violence against tribal groups was sanctioned and unpunished
with similar acts by American Indians resulting in vigilante justice or indiscriminate punishment of American
Indians, “guilty or not.” Consequently, American Indians had little protection under the law and no trust for the
American legal system.
12
The African Americans: Discrimination from 1895 to 1920
During this era, African Americans were subjected to harsh, widespread discrimination, dire health and mortality
rates; unbridled racial violence, injustices of law enforcement and the justice system, and biased analyses and
interpretation of their condition. African Americans were treated as though they represented a different class of
people and their growing presence in places where they had previously been invisible heightened racial problems.
Even though they saw themselves being as American as White Americans, they were confronted with a different
reality. Larger society had its own set of definitions for African Americans and attempted to impose these
definitions in its contact with the group. To many whites in the northern cities, African Americans were even more
undesirable and “foreign” than were the “new” immigrants. African American migration started shortly after the
end of the Civil War as free Blacks headed north in search of a better life that included economic security and
freedom from oppression. They found the same conditions experienced by “new immigrants”, but only more so. In
the 1870’s through the 1880’s, about 100,000 Blacks migrated from Southern states to the North. From 1890
through 1910, approximately 200,000 more African Americans migrated. The peak of migration was during the
years 1916 to 1917 as about 700,000 African Americans moved north. And during 1910 and 1920, approximately
800,000 to 1 million had made the journey north.
Gordon (1964), a prominent historian of the 1900’s observed and wrote, “Of all the major American immigrant
communities of whatever ethnic background or race, none faced the kind of systematic and restrictive measures
upon its urban adaptation as did the American Black.” In 1905, issues of The Charities Review, a social service
journal, described the housing problem facing the African American migrants as “Difficulty in obtaining a suitable
place meets the Negro who comes to a large northern city. In many neighborhoods, he cannot rent a house or an
apartment no matter how well able he may be to pay the price for it, and in places in which he is permitted to live,
his accommodations are frequently worse than the same money would buy for any other race.” Sophonisba
Breckenridge, an advocate of services for African Americans, provided a more detailed description in 1913 of the
housing situation in Chicago; “While half of the people in the Bohemian, Polish and Lithuanian districts were
paying less than $8.50 for their four bedroom apartments; the steel mill employees less than $9.50 and Jewish in the
Ghetto less than $10.50. The Negro, in the midst of extreme dilapidation and crowded into territory adjoining the
segregated vice district, pays $12.00 to $12.50.” Breckenridge also observed that housing problems for African
Americans were different from that of other immigrants. While only poor Polish and Jewish or Italian immigrants
had to endure poor housing conditions, African Americans of all income levels, suffered the direst housing
problems.
Education was again seen as the answer for African Americans. While white philanthropists provided significant
funding for education, many were only willing to support industrial education for African Americans. In 1905,
Gordon wrote, “The strain of commercial competition as well as the added stress of race prejudice has had a
tendency to limit opportunities of the Negro in securing work… It would seem then that manual training in a school
for the Negro child is even more essential and helpful than it is in a school for whites.”
Many whites feared that too much of the wrong kind of education would make African Americans more difficult to
control. Interestingly enough, sympathetic southern whites who generally opposed education for African
Americans, supported mechanical, industrial and agricultural training for this group. School attendance did not
have the same meaning for African Americans as it did for whites. In both the North and the South, prejudice often
prevented African Americans from working in the mills, factories and other industries, so they went to school
instead. Reformers who advocated compulsory education were ambivalent about the implications for African
Americans. Since school attendance was already high among African Americans in the early to mid-1900’s,
compulsory education would put even more African American students in the classroom, which posed a potential
risk for white Americans. Widely debated was the potential threat of the “educated Negro” to white superiority.
With the increase in African Americans in school there was a parallel increase in segregation. All black schools
became commonplace and typically the deteriorating buildings with fewest supplies were used by the African
13
Americans. Other reform efforts were retarded by fears that reform would be extended to African Americans. For
example, in Georgia the age of consent was 10 years old and remained there until 1918 when it was raised to 14.
The delay in the increase in age of consent was attributed to the belief that legislators did not want to extend legal
protection to African American girls. Opponents of women’s right to vote, particularly in the South, feared that
extending the right to vote to women would lead to African American women voting. Thus, racism intentionally
reduced the rights and privileges of African Americans, and it also served to clearly state the opportunities of
whites.
Pervasive racism against African Americans by persons outside this group affected the relations among members
inside the group. For example, the “near White” (lighter skinned) African Americans often saw themselves as
different than the darker-skinned African Americans. Color became a status symbol that was associated with
economic success. Because “whiteness” was more desirable than “darkness”, African Americans adopted standards
that favored the lighter-hued individuals of their race. Whites often extended preferential treatment to those African
Americans who did not have stereotypical “Negroid features.”
Health and Mortality
In 1899, The Charities Review noted, “The Negroes die twice as fast as the whites; whites have greater comforts and
many advantages as regards to skilled medical attention.” In 1897, The Charities Review attributed the high infant
mortality rates to “the fact that negro mothers are obliged as a rule to work outside the home, thus leaving their
homes and children, which is not only the cause of infant mortality, but also of neglected child life.”
While infectious diseases coupled with infant and maternal mortality decimated the African American population, a
study at the close of the Progressive Era revealed that African American males were also more likely than Whites to
be victims of homicides.
Black on black homicides has been a part of the history of numerous African American communities. Violence of
this nature has been linked to the concentration of drugs and alcohol in these communities as well as the personal
and social upheaval that accompanied African American migration and urbanization. The internalization of white
attitudes [IRO (Internalized Racial Oppression)] that devalue African American life has also been contemplated as
an explanatory factor.
Racial violence escalated during the turn of the century. A total of 3,000 known lynchings of African American
men and women stained American history from 1885 to 1915. Mob violence and race riots were prevalent in those
days. Racial hostility and hatred directed towards African American were more pervasive and lethal than that
directed towards any of the “new immigrants groups.” Mob violence erupted in East St. Louis in 1917 and about
25 other cities, including Chicago and Washington, as mobs of “Whites “ burned African American ghettos and
lynched, shot, and beat the inhabitants. During the “Red Summer” of 1919, Chicago, Omaha and other northern and
southern cities were the sites of brutal mob violence against African Americans that claimed numerous lives and left
thousands homeless. The East St. Louis case is a vivid example of the magnitude and intensity of the of racial mob
violence against African Americans. The NAACP sent investigators to collect data on the incident, and the results
were published in September 1917 issue of The Crisis. According to this report “On that day July 2, 1917, a mob of
white men, women and children… drove Negroes out of their homes by shooting, burning and hanging between one
and two hundred human beings who were black.”
Injustices of Law Enforcement / Justice system
The courts were not particularly sympathetic to African American rights and their status as citizens. In 1896, the
Supreme Court handed down the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision that made separate and equal treatment of African
American the law of the land. In this decision the Court declared that “legislation is powerless to eradicate racial
14
instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences.” The 1896 decision paved the way for
widespread court sanctioned discrimination against African Americans. The ruling seemed to reaffirm the
separation of the races as an innate or natural tendency that should not be challenged by law. Other discriminatory
laws were passed that limited African Americans access to public education, housing and jobs. These laws were
typically referred to as “Jim Crow Laws”, derived from nineteenth century song and dance that stereotyped African
Americans in an offensive way.
African Americans belief in the power of the federal government to protect them from discrimination was further
dampened by the actions of President Theodore Roosevelt when he unfairly discharged without honor African
American soldiers stationed near Brownsville, Texas in 1906 as a result of an incident that took place in which a
white person was killed and the soldiers refused to name who was responsible. A subsequent military investigation
indicated the evidence against the black soldiers was questionable at best.
The President acted without the benefit of evidence in this matter and he refused to seat African American delegates
from the South at the 1912 political convention. President Roosevelt, fearful of losing black support, invited
Booker T. Washington, noted African American Founder of Tuskegee Institute to the White House for lunch. In the
aftermath of white protest, Roosevelt viewed the lunch as a mistake.
Because organized law enforcement agencies were often perceived as agents for social control of African
Americans, these agencies afforded little protection or security for countless members of this group. In almost every
case, the police refused to enforce the law and even led mobs attacking African Americans. Poor to no law
enforcement contributed to violence against African American. A precarious relationship has historically existed
between law enforcement agencies and the African American communities. A study of homicides in 1921 indicated
that the majority of interracial homicides in the cities surveyed involved African American males who were shot by
the police for “resisting arrest”.
In looking at arrests in St. Louis from 1876 to 1901, Brandt (1903) noted that a large part of the police force was
Irish, which resulted in “intolerances toward the offences of foreign born individuals, as well as, an abnormal
vigilance over the Negros.” In addition, the penal system has often been described as a replacement for the slavery
system as a means of continued control of African Americans. For example, the State of New York legislated the
emancipation of slaves and the creation of the first state prison on the same day.
Mexican Americans Discrimination 1895 to 1920
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Mexican Americans in the U.S. were at a turning point in their history. In
the middle of the late 1880’s the vast amount of land they owned was coveted and eventually seized by white
settlers through both legal and extra legal means. The seized land was mined, farmed and developed. Cheap labor
was essential for production and profit. The indigenous people of Mexican descent in the Southwest and the
immigrants from Mexico were significant to the nation because they filled this labor need. From the end of the
Mexican War in 1848 to the beginning of unprecedented immigration from Mexico in 1910, the history of the
Mexican people in the United States has been virtually unrecognized.
The history of Mexican Americans in the United States is tied closely to those events that occurred in Texas and the
Southwest Territory. White settlers moved into Texas in the early 1880’s when it was still a part of the state of
Coahuila in the Republic of Mexico. Mexico welcomed these new settlers as long as they embraced Catholicism
and pledged allegiance to Mexico. Once in Texas, however the new settlers often forgot the oath and continued to
practice Protestantism.
Hostility toward the Mexican government escalated and open rebellion ensued. The source of the hostility and
antagonism can be traced to several issues. Many White settlers saw Mexican laws interfering with their way of life
while others believed Mexicans to be inferior in intelligence and refused to submit to a government that was seen as
15
inferior. At the time of the Texas War, the 5,000 Mexican inhabitants refused to join the white settlers in the revolt
against the Mexican government.
During the Texas revolution, the battles in San Antonio (at mission, Alamo) Goliad and San Jacinto were fought.
The end of the revolution ended with the defeat of the Mexican Army. With this defeat, the Mexican Texas died a
violent death and the Republic of Texas was born. As a result of this war, Mexicans were pictured as cruel,
treacherous, tyrannical and as an enemy who could not be trusted. The Texas War left a legacy of hate and
determined the status of Mexicans left behind as that of a conquered people. The Mexican American War in the
next decade recalled the hostilities between White Americans and Mexicans. The war coincided with the belief in
Manifest Destiny while social Darwinism and nativism was embraced by the white settlers. However, the
Southwest territory was already inhabited by 75,000 Mexicans, most of whom were mestizos-descendents of the
original Spanish conquistadors who created families with American Indians in the area. In the aftermath of the
Mexican American War and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, thousands of Mexicans
became Mexican American citizens of the United States. The Southwest Territory was sold for $15 million dollars
and included present-day California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado, Arizona, and Wyoming.
However, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo served to open the door to one of the “greatest land grabs in American
history since the dispossession of American Indian tribes.” The treaty protected the rights of the Mexican
landholders. However, white landowners used the U.S. court system to challenge land ownership. Congress passed
the Land Act of 1851 to help clear up the confusion about land titles. The act legally paved the way for whites to
legally challenge Mexican property rights. In some areas of the Southwest, up to 80 percent of the claims were
ruled in favor of the challenger or white plaintiffs. The Court became the means by which many Mexicans were
stripped of their land.
People of Mexican ancestry residing in Texas and the Southwest suffered overt economic, political and social
subordination as white Americans descended upon the territory. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided
Mexicans with “the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States according to the principles of the
Constitution;
and in the meantime shall be maintained and protected in the enjoyment of their liberty and property and secured in
the free exercise of religion without restriction.”Unfortunately, enforcement of this treaty was lacking; resulting in
the trampling of the rights of the indigenous people by the white settlers. Nor did the treaty address the mindsets of
the white settlers reinforced by the Texas revolution that viewed Mexicans as treacherous and inferior to whites.
Mexicans were not familiar with “American” ways of political and economic life and little to no means was
provided for them to be educated in these areas. Compounding the issues, many Mexicans were poor and only
spoke Spanish. They often worked for the ricos (rich) who typically owned vast acreage. In 1902, Texas adopted a
poll tax that deterred Mexican Americans from voting. In addition to losing political power, Mexican Americans
were discriminated against in educational and economic opportunities. A master-slave cast system developed. The
Mexican Americans of Texas and the Southwest were regulated to the worst working and living conditions and
became a cheap labor source for white farmers.
The social conditions of the Mexican Americans were exacerbated by the arrival of thousands of Mexican
immigrants after 1900. The Mexican population born in the U.S. grew from 8% in 1900 to 25% by 1910. At the
turn of the century, Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants made up 80% of the agricultural work force, 90%
of western railroad workers and 60% percent of the mineworkers. Others migrated to the northern urban centers or
became migrant farm workers in other parts of the country. In a 1912 article on the experiences of Mexican
immigrants in the United States, Bryan noted that in 1908 and 1909, about 86% of the Mexican immigrants worked
as railroad laborers and earned less than $1.25 a day while Greeks, Italians and Japanese railroad workers made
more than $1.50 per day. In addition Mexican immigrants lived in poor housing conditions that fostered diseases
and criminal activities.
Anti-Mexican hostility had a tremendous effect on the Mexican American population especially for those who
looked American Indian. In Texas, the tejanos (Mexican-American Texans) sought to distinguish themselves from
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Mexican immigrants. Consequently, the term “Mexican” began to take on a negative tone among whites and
tejanos. The Mexican-American population was not a homogeneous group but rather consisted of several different
groups identified by their ancestry and physical appearances that ranged from the fairness (lightness) of the Spanish
to the darkness of American Indians. This gradation in skin color was often associated with class and the
designation of Spanish American symbolized Spanish blood, aristocracy, and wealth whereas Mexican descendents
reflected American Indian and peasant stock.
Racial Violence
Injustices of Law Enforcement / Justice System
Law enforcement agencies provided little to no protection from the vigilantes who terrorized Mexicans in Texas and
throughout the Southwest. A situation in Sonora, California provides an example of how racial violence, coupled
with legislation, robbed Mexicans of their land and livelihood. Mexicans settled in this area and were successful in
mining productive claims - tracts of land that were staked out for mining. They fought off white attempts to drive
them from the lands for their lucrative claims. As a result, Mexican miners became the victims numerous raids and
killings, as the whites’ quest for land knew no boundaries. In 1850, the California State legislature imposed a tax on
all foreign miners aimed primarily at Mexicans. Using guns to enforce the legislation, whites forced 2,000
Mexicans to leave Sonora. The tax was so high that other miners, including white miners, were forced out of the
mines. While this tax was repealed a year later it proved to be too late for former Mexican miners.
In Texas, the Texas Rangers developed a reputation for shooting first and asking questions later in their dealings
with Mexican Americans. The Texas Rangers were often depicted as keepers of justices who valiantly defended the
borders of Texas and protected the settlers from the dangerous savage intruders. A Mexican accused of a crime was
often found guilty and punished on the spot. Thus, Mexicans in Texas and in the Southwest experienced the same
type of racial violence experienced by African Americans in the South and later in the North. Many of the white
settlers who moved to Texas and to the Southwest merely transferred their racial animosity towards African
Americans to Mexicans. According to Moquin (1971), the number of killings of Mexicans in the Southwest from
1850 to 1930 surpassed the number of African American lynchings for the same period.
Not surprisingly, Mexican immigrants were overrepresented in the jails and prisons of Texas and the Southwest
during the early 1900’s. As their percentage of the population increased, the incarceration rate also increased. In
Arizona and California, the chief offenses among Mexicans were gambling and drinking. As the institutions in U.
S. society accepted the mainstream interpretations of the past, the image of Mexican Americans suffered greatly.
Over time the distinctions between Spanish Americans, Mexican Americans and Mexicans clouded and simply
melted into one. Heritage and ancestry could not protect the first Spanish pioneers from being categorized as alien
or foreign to U.S. society. As in the case of African Americans, nativity by birth and history could not shield
Mexican Americans from differential treatment accorded to “outsiders.”
Chinese Americans/ Discrimination 1895 to 1920
Between 1855 and 1877 it was estimated that 191,118 Chinese entered the United States. In 1860 one-tenth of the
California population (63,199) was Chinese according to census figures. The overwhelming majority of this
number lived on the West Coast.
Although immigrants from other countries were permitted unrestricted entry into the United States, Chinese
immigration was limited. Two years prior to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Chinese constituted 2% of the
population or 105,456 of the 50,155,783 people in the United States. Following the enactment of the Chinese
Exclusion Act, the number of Chinese immigrants dropped significantly. Approximately 102,991 British
immigrants and 250,630 German immigrants came to the United States while only 39,579 Chinese immigrated.
17
In the mid 1800’s, peasant uprisings, economic conditions and political upheaval drove thousands of Chinese to flee
China in search of prosperity in other countries. The California Gold Rush attracted hundreds of Chinese and the
first arrivals were able to secure employment as cooks and servants. The Gold Rush period attracted some 35,000
Chinese, in comparison to 2.5 million European immigrants. Many of the Chinese relied on family assistance to
help defray the cost of the journey. Contract systems were entered into with U.S. companies to pay the travel cost
for workers while later deducting these expenses from the worker’s future wages. Railroad companies used this
system to meet the labor demands of railroad construction. In addition, large farming interests in the South
recruited Chinese workers to fill the void left by freed slaves.
In 1850, the Chinese were not perceived as a threat. Initially, the early arrivals worked in the service areas such as
restaurants and hotels. Many were merchants and skilled craftsmen. When their numbers started to increase
significantly the racism and discrimination became more blatant and more hostile. Many were lured to work in the
mines and later recruited to work the trans-continental railroad.
In the 1860’s Chinese workers were concentrated in the West in railroad and mining. The railroad industry
employed about 50% of the Chinese workforce with somewhat smaller numbers working in the mines. After the
last railroad spike was driven in 1869, about 25,000 Chinese railroad workers were out of work. By 1873, riches
from the mines could no longer be extracted with an ax and pan. More sophisticated procedures were needed by the
mining companies. As a result, the Chinese took jobs wherever they could such as in factories, farms and in
domestic service. They often took low paying jobs that the whites would not take. The labor market became
flooded and the depression of the 1870’s cast a negative, hostile shadow on the Chinese.
“Chinatowns” emerged that consisted of primarily male inhabitants. For example, of the 100,686 Chinese in the
United States in 1880, only about 4,779 were female. More than half of the males had wives and families in China
with plans to return to China. In addition, many planned to return to China take a bride and return to the United
States, intending to become U.S. citizens. The development of Chinatowns and the migration of the Chinese to
other parts of the country were attempts to escape racism, discrimination and the brutality of the West. The
emergent Chinatowns provided culturally based goods and shops, resulting in a Chinese merchant class that catered
exclusively to the Chinese community.
The Chinese were discriminated against from their arrival. In addition to being non-white and non-Christian they
were considered an inferior race that was clannish, deceitful and guilty of lowering the wage standards for whites.
There was also a strong sense among whites that the Chinese could not be assimilated into U.S. society and that
their loyalty would always be to China. In the eyes of the American people, the Chinese were contracted laborers
who were only passing through the country to steal employment and other resources from the more deserving white
workers. Residential segregation also helped lead to the development of Chinatowns. The anti-Chinese sentiment
grew so strong that societies developed to attack the Chinese problem and lobby for anti-Chinese legislation.
Racial Violence
Injustices of Law Enforcement /Justice System
The first documented violence against Chinese people occurred in 1849 in Tuolumne County (California) when 60
Chinese workers were chased out of their camps by White miners. In San Francisco, one of the largest riots was
sparked when the wage demands of White workers were rejected and cheaper Chinese workers were hired. In 1871,
21 Chinese were slain and 15 were lynched in an anti-Chinese riot. Raging racism fueled by a stagnant economy
made the Chinese perfect scapegoats for White frustration. In 1879, Wells (1897) noted, “No county, no
government, I undertake to say, has permitted the indignities to be cast upon a race of people, that the government
and municipality of San Francisco and California have permitted upon this class.” Violence was not limited to
California. It appeared to increase as the number of Chinese in any area did. For example, during the Denver riot
of 1880 every Chinese business and home in the city was destroyed.
18
In California, numerous state and local anti-Chinese laws and regulations were passed that taxed “foreigners”,
forced Chinese children to attend segregated schools, targeted Chinese businesses for “special license”, restricted
Chinese fishing, denied Chinese admission to certain hospitals and prohibited the hiring of Chinese workers for
municipal jobs. The anti–Chinese sentiment was so strong, a Democratic Party sponsored anti–Chinese rally in
1876 had about 25,000 people in attendance. The growing sentiment prompted Congress to pass the Chinese
Exclusion Act of 1882. This Act barred the entry of skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers into the United States for
10 years. It also denied Chinese naturalization and prohibited Chinese laborers’ spouses from entering the country.
In 1881, the Scott Act was passed and this Act prevented the return of some 20,000 Chinese laborers who had
temporarily returned to China to visit friends and family. Consequently, they lost businesses, homes and
possessions that they left behind in the United States. The Exclusion Act was not repealed until 1943. According to
Sung (1971), “The Chinese people were the only people specifically named in legislation to be excluded from the
United States.” It was an affront that still rankles in the hearts of many Chinese. The racist nature of the exclusion
acts and their legal perpetuation amplify the distinct history of this group in America.
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Introduction: A Limited Chronological Review
The examples given in the previous pages are but a glimpse back into a history of how racism
becomes converted into national policy. It is with this limited but significant national, historical
background that we return to developments in Ramsey County’s history.
While neither space, nor time permitted us to include all of the events, political actions and
policymaking decisions that intentionally or unintentionally resulted in unequal and unjust
representation of whole communities of color, we have tried to include items that have had
enduring and had significant impact on those communities and it’s peoples.
We invite you to add to this chronology if we have omitted some event, person, political action or
decision that you feel is important.
Chronological Review of the Social Conditions, Legislation Impact, and Changes in Ramsey County
Community Human Services Development through 2006
1849: Congress created the Minnesota Territory – attracting settlers. On October 27, 1849 nine counties were
created, Ramsey being one of them with 2,197 residents and 834 dwellings.
1849: On April 2nd President Zachary Taylor appointed Alexander Ramsey the first Governor of the Minnesota
Territory.
1860 - 1865 The Civil War; black soldiers constituted a significant number of troops. However, “…The
Confederate Congress did not authorize Colored Units in the
Confederate Army until 1865…”)
1861: Poor Law gives county commissioners authority “to take charge of the poor.”
1862: Social Security Administration started the Civil War Pension Program to benefit those veterans who were
disabled by war, as well as their widows and orphans. Other veterans at that time were not eligible for benefits.
1880: German, Swedish and Norwegian immigrants dominated the (Ramsey County) population.
1906: Old age had become sufficient for Social Security benefits to Civil War veterans & survivors. However,
many Civil War veterans did not qualify: Confederate Soldiers were barred from Civil War pensions.
1910: In the Northern states the military pension per capita was $3.63, compared to Southern states military pension per
capita of 50 cents (So. Carolina averaged 17 cents).
1911: The first State laws for "mothers' aid" (forerunner of aid to dependent children) were enacted in Missouri and
Illinois.
1914 -1918: World War I
1929 to 1934: Dr. Gustav Lundquist, Executive Secretary
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1929: MN Legislature created the Board of Public Welfare (formerly Board of Control: 1883) of the City of St.
Paul and the County of Ramsey (7/1/1929)
“…board shall have under its jurisdiction and control any hospital or almshouse now owned jointly… and shall provide for the relief of the poor…”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Board members serve without pay.
5 county citizens: 2 appointed by the Mayor and 3 appointed by the County Board.
Make rules and regulations for the conduct of its affairs.
Appoint an Executive Secretary at a salary not to exceed $4,000.00/year.
Appoint a physician and surgeon as superintendent and chief surgeon… annual salary of $5,000.00.
Appoint a Superintendent of Almshouse to be provided a salary of $2,500.00 per year.
Quarterly reports to the County Board and City council.
County shall pay 2/3rd and the city 1/3rd of the cost of relief of the poor and of the maintenance and
support of such almshouse and hospital.
1930: The Great Depression led to many changes for welfare: caseloads, organization, and thinking.
• Welfare cheating, fraud investigations and prosecution were the focus.
• The county welfare staff consisted of a supervisor, two visitor staff, and four clerical staff who were
responsible for “Outdoor relief” (relief in people’s homes). The usual grant was a $5.00 grocery order
and a ton of coal a month. Other needs such as rent, utilities, milk or clothing were met by private
family agencies, if at all.
1933: Outdoor Relief of Ramsey County and United Charities merged and were renamed the Family Welfare
Dept. of the Board of Public Welfare
1935 to 1940: Frank Rarig, Director, Executive Secretary
1936 to 1943: WPA (Work Progress Administration) “…an initial congressional appropriation of
$4,880,000,000, it offered work to the unemployed on an unprecedented scale by spending money on a wide variety
of programs, including highways and building construction, slum clearance, reforestation, and rural rehabilitation.”
1933 to 1938: The “New Deal” (Roosevelt) “…with the goal of giving relief, reform and recovery to the people
and economy of the United States during the Great Depression.”.
Historians distinguish between the "First New Deal" of 1933, which had aimed at short term recovery programs for
all groups in society; “The main federal cultural programs of the '30s were based on concern for a labor market:
professional artists and others engaged in cultural work. The skyrocketing popularity of media like the phonograph,
radio and movies had recently supplanted many thousands of live performers…” and the "Second New Deal"
(1935–36), which aimed at a more radical redistribution of power away from business and toward workers, farmers
and consumers.
August 14, 1935: The Social Security Act (H.R. 7260, Public Law No. 271, 74th Congress) became law with the
President's signature at approximately 3:30 p.m. on a Wednesday.
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The Social Security Act (Act of August 14, 1935) [H. R. 7260]
PREAMBLE
An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age
benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged
persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public
health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a
Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes.
1935: Welfare staff grew significantly with 6 district offices scattered around Ramsey
County.
MN Legislature: Board of County Commissioners Established
1937: MN Legislature created the (Board of Public Welfare shall be continued as the)
County Welfare Board consisting of five members, to be chosen as follows:
• Board shall appoint an Executive Secretary and such assistants and clerical help… be chosen upon
the basis of his experience, training and general qualifications for the work. Salary… Board of
County Commissioners… and the City Council…
• The board shall receive compensation.
• County Welfare Board shall assume responsibilities… County Child Welfare Board for the
protection of defective, illegitimate, dependent, neglected and delinquent children.
• County Welfare Board shall be charged with… administration of all forms of public assistance and
public welfare… children and adults… aid to dependent children, old age assistance, veterans aid,
aid to the blind and other public assistance or public welfare purposes.
• …comply with the requirements of the Federal Social Security Act and to obtain grants-in-aid
available under said act.
• …shall be charged with the duties of administration… within the purview of the Federal Social
Security Act …
• The cost of all such relief, including maintenance of any almshouse, sanitariums or hospital… by
county and city… 72½% county and 27½% city.
1937– 1945: World War II
1939: The First Food Stamp Program (FSP) - May 16, 1939-Spring 1943 “…with farm surpluses on one cliff
and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a
bridge across that chasm.” The (Food Stamp) program operated by permitting people on relief to buy orange
stamps equal to their normal food expenditures; for every $1 worth of orange stamps purchased, 50 cents worth of
blue stamps were received. Orange stamps could be used to buy any food; blue stamps could be used only to buy
food determined by the Department to be surplus. The program ended when the conditions that brought the
program into being (unmarketable food surpluses and widespread unemployment) no longer existed.
1939: Legislature: State Board of Control duties and responsibilities… transferred to… the Director of Social
Welfare.
• The director of social welfare is hereby constituted the “state agency” (now the Minnesota Department
of Human Services) as defined by the Social Security Act…
1939: Legislature: Welfare Board and its executive secretary and… its employees… bond with corporate sureties…
not less than $1,000.00 per person.
•
Issuance of bonds (to borrow funds) for relief of the poor… with the vote of the people.
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1940 to 1952: Ruth Bowman, Director, Dept. of Welfare
1940: Ramsey County Welfare Department divided into: Administration, Relief and Service, Old Age Assistance,
Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and Child Welfare (foster care).
1941: Legislature: The director of social welfare shall have the authority to adopt and enforce regulations
concerning the use and publication of lists of public assistance recipients… in such form as necessary to comply
with the requirements of the federal social security board.
• The County Welfare Board in Ramsey County is now giving cash relief. It was felt… that the law
permitted the County Welfare Boards to give relief in cash…
• Amendments: Issuance of bonds (to borrow funds) for relief of the poor… without the vote of the
people.
• …This authority to require methods of administration… establishment and maintenance of personnel
standards on a merit basis as concerns all employees of county welfare boards except those employed in
an institution, sanatorium or hospital; provided, however, that the director of social welfare shall
exercise no authority with respect to the selection, tenure of office, and compensation of any individual
employed in accordance with such methods.
1943: Food Stamp Act repealed.
1945: Legislature: Estimated expenditures of the County Welfare Board to the Board of Commissioners on the
first day of July of each year.
• County welfare board is given the power to employ and discharge all necessary employees… and to fix
and determine their compensation.
• Established semi-monthly payment of wages.
1947: Legislature: County employees and county welfare board employees are divided into the unclassified and
classified civil service.
1952 to 1957: Spencer Brader, Director, Dept. of Welfare
1957 to 1968: Ruth Bowman, Director, Dept. of Welfare
1960: Civil Rights Movement
1963: Dept of Welfare Reorganization:
Vocational Rehabilitation Services for Chronically Dependent Welfare Recipients (5/1963)
Ruth Bowman, Director of RC Welfare Department
James Edmunds, Director, Admin. Services
Robert Boyer, Director, Casework Services
Donald Henry, Director, Work & Training Project
“…Local and national developments focusing… of dependency… Individual living on public assistance
represented not only a gross waste of human resources… a challenge to the professional… who sought to aid them
in their release from dependency.”
Department of Welfare reorganization patterned after Family Centered Project of St. Paul.
23
“Reason for staff turnover… we find that welfare recipients are not the most cultured, well mannered, well-behaved
persons in our society. In fact, on occasion they may be downright uncouth and unpleasant… we find that our
counselors are serving a rather unpleasant group and receiving very little encouragement and support for it from
their colleagues and friends.”
“… Voc Rehab should broaden its concept of disability to include chronically dependent persons.”
Table 5 (in the Appendix):
Primary Disability = Chronic Dependency
Secondary Disabilities = Mental or emotional illness, mental retardation, back
disorder, speech or hearing disorder.
1962: Social Security Act Amendment(s) – local welfare departments to reduce dependency on welfare.
1964: Food Stamp Act of 1964. Among the official purposes of the Food Stamp Act of 1964 were strengthening
the agricultural economy and providing improved levels of nutrition among low-income households; however, the
practical purpose was to bring the pilot FSP under Congressional control and to enact the regulations into law.
First time anti-discrimination language is included in the Act: “Prohibitions against discrimination on bases
ofrace, religious creed, national origin, or political beliefs.”
1965: Affirmative Action
1968 to 1982: Jim Edmunds, Director, Dept. of Welfare
1970: President Johnson “Great Society” Programs.
1971: Department of Public Welfare: Social Services and Financial Services split and become two separate
divisions.
1971: A 7-member County Board of Commissioners replaces the Ramsey County Welfare Board.
1972: Ramsey Medical Center – no longer primary hospital for MA patients.
1972: Food Stamp Act reinstated – see eligibility criteria - compare to 1939-43.
P.L. 91-671 established uniform national standards of eligibility and work requirements; required that allotments be
equivalent to the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet; limited households' purchase requirements to 30 percent of
their
income.”
1973: Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 93-86, Aug. 10, 1973) required States to expand the
program to every political jurisdiction before July 1, 1974; expanded the program to drug addicts and alcoholics in
treatment and rehabilitation centers; established semi-annual allotment adjustments, SSI cash-out, and bi-monthly
issuance; introduced statutory complexity in the income definition (by including in-kind payments and providing an
accompanying exception); and required the Department to establish temporary eligibility standards for disasters.
1974: City/County relationship is “undone” in favor of more uniform statewide relief.
1975: Southeast Asians start resettling in Minnesota. By 1990 (per Census figures – which may be an
underestimation) the following resettled in Ramsey County: Hmong (18,000), Vietnamese (6,000), Cambodian
(4,000), and Laotians (500).
24
1977: Food Stamp Act Reform Both the outgoing Republican Administration and the new Democratic
Administration offered Congress proposed legislation to reform the FSP in 1977. The Republican bill stressed
targeting benefits to the neediest, simplifying administration, and tightening controls on the program; the
Democratic bill focused on increasing access to those most in need and simplifying and streamlining a complicated
and cumbersome process that delayed benefit delivery as well as reducing errors, and curbing abuse. The bill that
became the law (S. 275) did eliminate the purchase requirement. It also:
• eliminated categorical eligibiliity;
• established statutory income eligibility guidelines at the poverty line;
• established 10 categories of excluded income;
• reduced the number of deductions used to calculate net income and established a standard deduction
to take the place of eliminated deductions;
• raised the general resource limit to $1,750;
• established the fair market value test for evaluating vehicles as resources;
• penalized households whose heads voluntarily quit jobs;
• restricted eligibility for students and aliens;
• eliminated thre requirement that households must have cooking facilities;
• replaced store due bills with cash change up to 99 cents;
• established the principle that stores must sell a substantial amoung of staple foods if they are to be
authorized;
• established the ground rules for Indian Tribal Organization adminstration of the Food Stamp Program
on reservations; and
• introduced demonstration project authority.
In addition… the Act included several access provisions:
• using mail, telephone, or home visits for certification;
• requirements for outreach, bilingual personnel and materials, and nutrition education materials;
• recipients’ right to submit applications the first day they attempt to do so;
• 30-day processing standard and inception of the concept of expedited service;
• SSI joint processing and coordination withAFCD;
• Notice, recertification and retroactive benefit protections; and
• A requirement for States to develop a disaster plan.
The integrity provisions of the new program included fraud disqualifications, enhanced Federal funding for States’
anti-fraud activities, and financial incentives for low error rates.
1979: December: Participation in the Food Stamp Program surpassed 20 million.
1980: Language and cultural sensitive employment announcements and exams started. The first
announcement was for a Social Worker.
1980 to 2001: Tom Fashingbauer, Director, Dept. of Welfare
1980: President Reagan cutback in programs. The large and expansive food stamp program provided to be a
favorite subject of close scrutiny from both the Executive Branch and Congress in the early 1980s. Major
legislation in ’81 and ’82 enacted cutbacks including:
• Addition of a gross income eligibility test in addition to the net income test for most households;
• Temporary freeze on adjustments of the shelter deduction cap and the standard decusion and constratins
on future adjustments;
• Annual adjustments in food stamp allotments rather than semi-annual;
25
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Consideration of non-elderly parents who live with their children and non-elderly siblings who live
together as one household;
Required periodic reporting and retrospective budgeting;
Prohibition against using Federal funds for outreach;
Replacing the Food Stamp Program in Puerto Rico with a block grant for nutition assistance;
Counting retirement accounts as resources;
State option to require job search of applicants as well as participants; and
Increased disqualification periods for voluntary quitters.
Recognition of the severe domestic hunger problem in the latter half of the 1980s led to incremental improvements in the Food Stamp Program such as
elimination of sales tax on food stamp purchases, reinstitution of categorical eligibility, increased resource limit for most households ($2,000), eligibility for the
homeless, and expanded nutrition education.
The 1988 and 1990 legislation accomplished the following:
• Increasing benefits by applying a multiplication factor to Thrifty Food Plan costs;
• Making outreach an optional activity for States;
• Excluding advance earned income tax credits as income;
• Simplifying procedures for calculating medical deductions;
• Instituting periodic adjustments of the minimum benefit;
• Authorizing nutrition education grants;
• Establishing severe penalties for violations by individuals or participating firms; and
• Establishing EBT as an issuance alternative.
1986: St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center became independent of Ramsey County, operating as private hospital under
Group Health, Inc. (HealthPartners).
Legislature: In all cases child support is withheld from father’s paychecks.
1990s: East Africans start arriving in Minnesota. By 2004 (per Ramsey County East African Task Force Report)
the following resided in Ramsey County: Somalis (3,500), Ethiopians – non-Oromo (750), Oromo (750), Eritreans
(800), and Sudanese (200).
1994: March: Participation in the Food Stamp Program hits a new high of 28 million.
1995: Rafael Ortega sworn in as Ramsey County Commissioner. He is believed to be the first County Board
member of color in Minnesota.
The mid-1990s was a period of welfare reform. Many states had waivers of the rules for the cash welfare program,
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) before major welfare reform legislation was enacted in 1996.
1996: The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (The Welfare Reform Act)
approved by Congress, signed by President Clinton removed the entitlement of recipients to AFDC and replaced
that with a new block grant to states called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The Act directed
states to “change welfare as we know it.” It added work incentives, penalties for non-work, and required a 60-month
time limit. In addition, the Food Stamp Program was reauthorized in the 1996 Farm Bill, major changes to the
program were enacted through the Welfare Reform Act. Among them were:
• Eliminating eligibility of most legal immigrants to food stamps;
• Placing a time limit on food stamp receipt of three out of 36 months for able-bodied adults without
dependents who are not working at least 20 hours a week or participating in a work program;
• Reduction in maximum allotments by setting them at 100 percent of the change in the Thristy Food
Plan from 103 percent of the change in the TFP;
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•
•
•
•
Freezing the standard deduction, the vehicle limit and the manimum benefit;
Setting the shelter cap at graduated specified levels up to $300 by fiscal year 2001, and permitting
States to make use of the standard utility allowance mandatory;
Revising provisions for disqualification, including comparable disqualification with other means-tested
programs; and
Requiring States to implement EBT before October 1, 2002.
1997: The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) as the main source of public family financial support
replaced Aide to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) statewide. The program was implemented after a pilot
program showed positive anti-poverty and work incentive results.
1997/1998: The Balanced Budget Act (1997) and the Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Act (1998)
made some changes to these provisions, most significantly:
• additional Employment and Training (E&T) funds targeted toward providing work program
opportunities for able-bodied adults without dependents;
• allowing States to exempt up to 15 percent of the estimated number of able-bodied adults without
dependents who would otherwise be ineligible;
• restoring eligibility for certain elderly, disabled and child immigrants who resided in the United States
when The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act was enacted; and
• cutting administrative funding for States to account for certain administrative costs that previously had
been allocated to the AFDC program and now were required to be allocated to the Food Stamp
Program.
2000: Community Human Services “Redesign” begins.
2001: County Manager, Paul Kirkwold held retreat with selected department heads focusing on diversity.
2001: Children’s Services Division begins “Ending Racial Disparities” efforts in Child Protection and out-of-home
placement.
The fiscal year 2001 Agriculture Appropriations Bill included two significant changes to the Food Stamp Program.
•
•
•
Increased the excess shelter cap to $340 in fiscal year 2001; and
indexed the cap to changes in the Consumer Price Index for all consumers each year beginning in fiscal year 2002.
The legislation also allowed States to use the vehicle limit they use in a TANF assistance program, if it would result in a lower attribution of
resources for the household.
Food stamp participation began to increase in fiscal year 2001 and has continued to rise through the beginning of fiscal year 2003.
2002 to present: Monty Martin, Director, Community Human Services Department.
2002: Reorganization of CHS Divisions:
Administrative Services
Financial Assistance Services
Adult Services
Family & Children’s Services
Common Access Front End (CAFÉ) developed and implemented to tie service delivery systems together to reduce
redundancy in collecting and improve sharing of client information to improve service provision.
27
2002: RCCHS Mission statement:
“Making a Difference: Helping people survive and thrive.”
• Ensuring Safety
• Meeting Basic Needs
• Promoting Stability
• Providing Effective Treatment
• Supporting Independent Living
• Encouraging Community Involvement
RCCHS Values:
• Client Dignity,
• Positive Leadership
• Recognition.
• Staff Respect,
• Service Focus, and
2002: The Food Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 was enacted, including reauthorization of the Food
Stamp Program. Major changes to food stamps included:
• restoration of eligibility for food stamps to qualified aliens who have been in the United States at
least five years;
• restoration of eligibility for immigrants receiving certain disability payments and for children,
regardless of how long they have been the country;
• adjusting the standard deduction to vary by household size and indexed each year for inflation;
• reforming the quality control (QC) system by basing financial sanctions on consecutive years of
high error rate;
• replacing enhanced funding for States with low error rates with a performance bonus system based
on several different measures of performance;
• providing States with several options to simplify the program, including aligning the definition of
income and/or resources to that used in TANF or Medicaid, adopting a simplified reporting system,
and providing transitional benefits for clients leaving TANF;
• cutting E&T funding while eliminating the requirements of targeting those funds toward ablebodied adults without dependents; and
• eliminating the cost neutrality requirement for EBT systems.
2001: MayKao Hang appointed as first Division Director of color in RCCHS.
2002: Richard Coleman and Clyde Turner appointed as the first Managers of color in RCCHS.
2002: Indian Child Welfare Act Unit in the Child Protection Program is established and first ICWA Intake
assessment worker is hired.
2002: RCCHS Directors & Managers begin discussions about diversity efforts regarding employee recruitment,
retention and promotion, and client service impact.
2005: Anti Racism Leadership Team is formed.
April 4, 2005, Toni Carter sworn in as County Commissioner. She is believed to be first African-American
County Board member in Minnesota.
2005: Continue work of implementing structures, policies and practices with inclusive decision-making and other
forms of power sharing on all levels of the institution’s work… with little or no money!
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2005: Children’s Services Ending Racial Disparities work is recognized by Casey Family Programs as a national
model and we are asked to proto-type for other child welfare agencies nationally.
History Document Conclusion
So, why was this Institutional History written?
The Anti-Racism Leadership Team (ARLT) had to do some homework to understand, and to be able to explain,
how the Ramsey County Welfare Department (known today as Ramsey County Community Human Services
Department) came to be. Who decided it was needed and why, and who was it designed to serve?
It seems like a simple and obvious answer doesn’t it? But when you begin to look back and really begin to
understand how and why “welfare” came to be, the simple and obvious answer takes on a tone and systematic
intention that is very sobering and is less than honorable.
A colleague on the ARLT observed, “The welfare system has really created a way to keep poor people poor. A way
to control and have power over the people that society fears.”
Given what we have learned doing this homework assignment, the researching and exploring our own agencies
“construction”, maybe this statement is not really too far off base.
While this history is not an exhaustive documentation, the ARLT believes that sufficient research and man-hours
have been invested to provide a glimpse into the social welfare mechanism that has been constructed so that we can
begin to make some individual choices:

You can ignore this information and “keep-on keepin’-on”
OR

You can join in making intentional changes within our agency.
ARLT Mission Statement:
“Recognize racism in our institution and implement a
transformational strategy for change.”
ARLT Vision Statement:
“Ramsey County Human Services will be an
anti-racist, multicultural organization.”
29
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Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
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American Minorities. San Francisco, CA: E Research Associates.
MCARI Minnesota Collaborative Anti-Racism Initiative (2006). Exploring Institutional History and
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Ramsey County Census date from 1870 though 2000
Sung, B. (1971). The Story of the Chinese in America . New York: Collier Books.
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Trattner, W.I. (1999). From Poor Law to Welfare State. New York, NY: Free Press.
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Colonial times to 1957 (Washington DC, Government Printing Office)
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Iglehart, A. P. (1995). Social Services and the Ethnic Community. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
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Ramsey County Community Human Services - 2013
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