Thy Kingdom Come... Minneapolis/St. Paul Teeter on the Edge of White Privilege's Final Days

Previously on SBPDL: Prairie Home Companion vs. Ghetto Home Companion: The Violent, Blighted World of Black People in North Minneapolis

Earlier on in Ze'ev Chafets book Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit, a white expatriate of the city - Tom De Lisle - is interviewed about the tragedy (still unfolding) in the city once known as the Paris of the West:

''This is the place where the wheels came off the wagon of Western civilization,'' he told me. ''This town has become unlivable. What I want to know is, where's the outrage? There is no outrage here. ''You'd think there would be an outcry, or at least some sympathy for the victim. Detroit is as helpless and hopeless a place as any in America.'' (p. 26)

Like Tom Hanks character in Cast Away watching Wilson the Volleyball drift out-to-sea, you can feel the sorrow in the quote from De Lisle, knowing the city he once knew had already been overtaken by a tidal change. 

Thy will be done... 'white privilege' replaced with a police state to combat black crime

How many other individuals, like Tom De Lisle, have stared blankly at the city they grew up and felt the exact same way? 

How many other individuals have anticipated an outcry, and outpouring of emotion, or perhaps something, anything over the complete collapse of their hometown, only to be overwhelmed by the farcical silence replacing the outrage?

For those wondering, the wheels of Western civilization are coming off in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

You'd think there would be an outcry. 

Maybe some outrage. 

At least sympathy for the victim. 

You'd be wrong. [Closing the Gap: Mayoral Candidates Share Plans to Reduce Racial Inequities, The Journal, Aug. 22 - Sept. 4, 2013]:

The city’s substantial racial disparities in employment, education and housing have been a major focus of the mayoral campaign.

Within a generation, the demographics of the city are expected to shift and the majority of Minneapolis residents will be people of color. Working on closing the racial gaps will be a major challenge for the city's next mayor. 
Minneapolis has some of the worst racial disparities in housing, employment and educa- tion in the country. The most recent City of Minneapolis report looking at the disparities was released in March. This infographic highlights some of the key stats in that Results Minneapolis report.

Overall, the city’s population is 60 percent white and 40 percent minority. According to recent research by the Amhert H. Wilder Foundation, children of color make up 93 percent of the city’s children in poverty. The city’s demographics are also undergoing a dramatic change — the majority of children under the age of 20 are non-white.

The Twin Cities, without its founding population (white people), will not function in the same manner as it will when 'white privilege' is completely extirpated and the same racial malaise that set over Detroit  sinks in the streets of Minneapolis/ St. Paul. 

From 1860- 1950, Minneapolis was 98 percent white or greater; in 1960, Minneapolis was 96.8 white; in 1970, the city was 93.6 percent white; in 1980, the city was 87.3 percent white; by 1990, the city was only 78.4 percent white. 

Today, Minneapolis is 60.3 percent white. 

Only 100 years ago, blacks represented .9 percent of the population of Minneapolis (2,592 out of 301,408); today, blacks represent 18.6 percent of the population of Minneapolis. 

From 1850-1980, St. Paul was 90 percent white or greater (usually hovering around 98 percent white); today, St. Paul is 55 percent white. 

The Great White North is melting away, revealing something dark and sinister no one wants to confront 
[Rubén Rosario: Under siege, a St. Paul neighborhood needs answers, PioneerPress.com, 8-15-2013]:        

"No question these hoodlums have been getting bigger and bolder and out of control in that area for over a year, blocking traffic, harassing people," said the officer, who asked to remain anonymous because he is not permitted to speak publicly without advance approval from the department.

The cop also added that colleagues working the East Side feel their hands are tied by police leadership they suspect is more concerned about community backlash if they aggressively enforce curfew and other quality-of-life laws.

"Look, recreation centers are fine and they may help, but these (gang members) don't go to rec centers," said the officer. "It's not all law enforcement, but in this case right now, the hammer needs to come down on these people."

He also noted a lack of outrage, particularly from the African-American community, over the recent beating, but more so the gang-related slaying of a 17-year-old youth by another last month in the same area. Both were black. The suspects in the Widstrand beating also belong to a predominantly black gang.

The Rev. Devin Miller, a longtime black community advocate, responded to similar concerns in a post on the E-Democracy.org Payne-Phalen discussion forum this week.

"The unfortunate reality is that there are not many (black) 'leaders' as you would think in the neighborhood," wrote Miller, who serves as a forum engagement leader, served on the District 5 Planning Council and lived in the area for about a decade.

"I would also challenge the broader community to not categorize this as an African-American leadership issue but as a neighborhood and community issue," he added. "It will take all of us to change the minds of the many and to help the few."

Ben Greiling, who has lived in the nearby Dayton's Bluff neighborhood for the past four years, noted the lack of response to last month's slaying.

"I think we have accepted a level of violence in the area as long as it's a gang-versus-gang thing and doesn't affect the rest of us," Greiling told me. "But this was gang-on-innocent-bystander."

The recent chatter on the discussion forum over the gang violence, however, illustrates a community still engaged. The postings come from residents who care deeply about where they live, are demanding answers to tough questions from police and others while also exploring ways, including police enforcement, to stamp out gang violence.

Constance, for one, hopes so.

"You know, there are times when this place is not so bad," she said. "I don't believe it's a racial issue. What I do believe is that it's a mix of gangsters and knuckleheads who need to be taken off the streets. People shouldn't be living in fear like this."

The wheels of Western civilization have fallen off in many places where civilization once flourished; gifted through white flight with an infrastructure built to once sustain Western civilization, the new inhabitants of cities like Detroit, Minneapolis, and St. Paul look upon land inherited without any martial opposition.

Never, ever in history has this happened.

That's why the situation we live through is so unique.

That's why answers are so difficult to come by.

That's why so many good people stand aghast at the silence, the lack of outrage, and with a feeling of utter helplessness at the situation.

No matter what anyone says or does, the eradication of white privilege from Minneapolis/St. Paul means the removal of civilization from a city once blessed with peace and prosperity.

In its place?

Look to Detroit in 2013 for the future of Minneapolis/St. Paul.