Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap: Within the last year, two Minnesota school districts have reached agreements with the U.S. departments of Education and Justice to settle complaints of harassment brought by Somali-American parents and a civil rights group.

The complaints alleged that district officials failed to take action when students made “inflammatory and derogatory” comments about Somalis and Muslims in school and on social media. There also were allegations that a school bus driver refused to pick up Somali-American students.

The immigrant population in Minnesota from East Africa, and Somalia specifically, has burgeoned in recent years to the point that the state now has the largest Somali population in the U.S. — between 29,000 and 36,000 — according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released in October.