In this file photo, a Somali family waits to cross a downtown Faribault street.
ON ANY GIVEN DAY, I can drive on a street in Faribault, walk along the sidewalk, glance out my office window or go shopping and see a racial diversity of people.
I can stand in my side yard and look toward the home of an Asian couple. I can glance up the hill and watch two preschoolers, the daughters of a white mother and an African American father, play outside. In my front yard, I can see, several houses down, the Hispanic family that has lived in my neighborhood for years.
Yes, Faribault, population 23,352, is a community of diversity. Thirteen percent of our residents are Hispanic/Latino and another 7.4 percent, black or African American, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. All totaled, about one-fifth of our residents identify themselves as “non-white.”
As my husband would say—and this is not meant at all as derogatory—shopping in at least one local grocery store is like walking into the United Nations. We shop side-by-side with Spanish-speaking Latino families and with Somali women clothed in billowing dresses and head scarves.
Just the other evening, as I entered the local public library, a Sudanese man held the exterior library door open for me while his pre-teen son opened the interior door. It’s been a long time since a young boy held a door for me and I expressed to him my appreciation for his respect and good manners.
The other day, while waiting in the car for my husband to pick up milk at a local convenience store, I observed a cluster of teenaged Somali girls, dressed in head scarves and flowing dresses, move along the sidewalk while, just across the street, a 60-something white woman clad in a jacket resembling an American flag pushed a cart of groceries. It was a unique visual illustrating diversity in Faribault.
Several Latinos lead in singing of Mexico’s national anthem last September during the International Festival at Faribault’s Central Park. Flags represent the birthplace nations of those participating.
The diversity of my community bubbled to the surface Tuesday after I read a comment on City Pages, an online Minneapolis-based information source. A post I published last week about jewelry store thefts in Faribault and elsewhere in Minnesota was linked to in “The Blotter” section as was an article in the Faribault Daily News which identified the jewelry store thieves as “black males.”
Now I don’t want to get into the issue of whether the news reporter should have racially-tagged the suspects. But I was miffed by the first Blotter comment on the blog post.
It looks like “diversity” has now spread to Hastings and Faribault.
That comment was followed by a reply I won’t print here because of the language. But you can read it by clicking here.
So why did the initial diversity comment rile me? Well, I’m tired of over-generalizations that those of us living outside the Twin Cities metro area reside in closed-up communities comprised mostly of Anglo-Americans. We are not just a bunch of white descendants of Scandinavians or Germans or Irish or French… We are racially diverse and growing in diversity.
If you ask the residents of Willmar or Worthington, St. James or Madelia, or many other Minnesota towns, they’ll tell you the same. Latinos, Asians, Somalians, Sudanese and others call outstate Minnesota home.
Diversity spread to Faribault decades ago. Just stroll through my neighborhood.
How diverse is your neighborhood, your small town, your suburb, your city? Let’s hear.
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Good post. I actually saw Downtown Faribault for the first time on a Saturday about a month ago. I was amazed at the large downtown with blocks of great urban buildings. I was also amazed at how many Hispanics and East Africans I saw walking around downtown on a Saturday afternoon. Then I thought about what has happened on Lake Street in my “hometown,” where ethnic groups have revitalized a commercial corridor which is now thriving again due to community building and entrepreneurship. From what I’ve heard, Willmar and some other towns have thriving downtowns because of diverse businesses opening up. This is great for building our urban fabric and maintaining walkable downtowns, the alternative to downtowns full of surface parking lots that were once classic buildings.
Thank you, Matt, and I’m glad you had an opportunity to visit downtown Faribault for the first time recently. We have so many wonderful old buildings in our historic district, which is in the process of expanding, BTW. We also have a wide variety of downtown businesses, including numerous that are ethnic. As a community, I think we could do a better job, though, of embracing the diversity in businesses.
Many of the individuals you saw probably live in apartments above downtown businesses. Unfortunately, some locals who see these individuals clustered on sidewalks and/or street corners feel uncomfortable/intimidated/threatened by their presence. They don’t understand that Central Avenue is the front yard for these residents and their place to gather.
We all have a long way to go in understanding and building relationships and growing as a diverse community.
I adore the colours those somali women are wearing, Not very diverse here i am afraid, i am about the most diverse thing they ever see around here.. all american, my accent makes heads turn. You are very lucky. I especially love it when recent immigrants open cafes and restaurants and we get to eat the food with their own methods of preparation.. That is great too. c
Readers, I hope you will read and reread Cecilia’s words, “You are very lucky,” and remember them.
Hi Audrey!
My name is Laura I work for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. Through researching diversity resources in Faribault I came upon your MINNPOST, “Yes, Faribault is a diverse community.” I loved this article, we have some managers who feel that they don’t really have diversity in their location, and this blog points out what we in HR are always trying to tell them- “Yes, you do!”
We plan to host an event on Tuesday March 26th from 10am-12pm at our office in Faribault. I’m looking to bring together organizations, and people who care about diversity in their community, to open up a broader conversation about how to overcome challenges surrounding diversity.
I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but I thought it was interesting to share, specifically pages 28-29 that break down demographics by counties in MN:http://www.macpza.org/ann2012/How%20Social,%20Economic%20&%20Demographic%20Changes%20are%20Transforming%20Minnesota.pdf
Great idea to bring together various folks and organizations to discuss diversity. Faribault community members, consider this your invitation. Should folks just show up or contact you in advance or? If you have not seen another blog post I penned in January, you may find it to be another valuable source of information:
Thanks Audrey! I have an invitation pending acceptance of the Faribault Chamber of Commerce Events Calendar. Once that’s up, I’d be happy to share the link for more information. 🙂 Anyone interested can contact me directly at Laura.Ryan@Lssmn.org
We’ve done similar events in the past, this will be our first in Faribault, and I’m really excited to hear of the importance diversity has with the local community. I think it will be a great conversation!