City of Minneapolis Segregates Employees by Race in Upcoming ‘sacred conversations’

The city of Minneapolis is hosting a set of “sacred conversations with city staff” along with a lecture series and Aug. 20 event that commemorates the “400 Year of Resistance and Liberation” by African Americans.

Minneapolis

The city of Minneapolis’ Division of Race and Equity is leading this set of events to commemorate the “400 Year… of Africans being brought to Jamestown, VA by the British.” The city states that these conversations are important because they ensure “staff and community members an opportunity to reflect on how they relate to the enslavement of African American people.”

The “sacred conversations with city staff” are segregated by skin color. “Black bodied staff” can attend a set of three events that are separated from “White bodied staff” who have their own 3 events. All events are led byMinneapolis’s racial equity coordinators.

The sacred conversations are modeled after “Safe and Brave Spaces.” A research study by The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) says that safe and brave spaces are “just one means to combat systemic oppression” in our society. NASPA also says that a “safe space is never actually safe,” so the term “brave space” must be used instead.

Jeff Kolb, former Crystal City Council member, tweeted about the “sacred conversations”, shedding light on the fact that Minneapolis is “segregating employees by the colors of their bodies.”

Megan Olson

Megan Olson is a 2020 graduate of the University of Minnesota with degrees in political science and history. She works in public affairs in addition to serving on the Legislative Advisory Council for School District 196. She is also on the school board for FIT academy, a charter school in Apple Valley.