Close the Gap: An Educator Guide

STORY: "The Browning of Minnesota"


For more than 100 years, Neighborhood House has given people on St. Paul's West side "that little boost" that people sometimes need. Gilbert de La'O`, a Neighborhood House youth-turned-employee, tells his story of growing up in St. Paul in the generation that propelled the Chicano Power movement. Since its founding in 1906 by the Twin Cities' Jewish community, the House has served vastly changing immigrant populations in Minnesota. Yet even now, Gilbert sees similarities between himself and the immigrant families now arriving from Southeast Asia and East Africa. Shared cultural values allow for empathy and understanding between people whose languages are different. Of particular interest to Gilbert is education. As he points out, "it behooves us to make sure everyone gets educated now to their fullest extent," and reminds us that this will strengthen the whole of society in years to come.
Key Terms
Browning of Minnesota
Community-building
Ellis Island
Harry Gaston
Immigration
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Before Viewing

Have you ever heard of Neighborhood House? Where do many of Minnesota's immigrant communities come from? Is this different today from in the past?

After Viewing

  1. What is Neighborhood House?
  2. How have its mission and activities changed over the years?
  3. How have they remained constant in spite of serving immigrants from differing regions?
  4. When did Mexican immigrants begin to come to MN?
  5. What does Gilbert mean by "the Browning of Minnesota"?
  6. When Gilbert says "this is a story that hasn't been told," what does he mean? To whose story is he referring? Only that of Chicanos or a broader story?
Suggested Activities

Sharing Our Stories

This activity aims to deepen students' understanding of migration issues through personalizing and sharing migration experiences. It also seeks to explore reasons for migration and immigration and build empathy for those who chose or had to move. When working on this activity, remind students that some issues are quite personal and students should not be forced to share sensitive information

  • Introduce the activity and explain that students will create Origin Stories about their families or people with whom they live and meet in pairs to share drafts.
  • Give each student a copy of Handout 1: Origin Stories. Allow 5-10 minutes to work individually and then divide students in pairs to share and discuss drafts. Use Discussion questions from the handout. Give each pair Handout 2 and ask students to compare and contrast their origin stories.
  • Be sure to allow time for reflection as many stories touch emotions. Invite pairs to share their similarities and differences with the larger group.

Handouts
Going Further

  1. Human Rights Framework

    Read articles about immigration issues relevant to the community or state and generate a working definition of "human rights".

    Collect newspaper or news magazine articles with a variety of view points concerning immigration. See Handout 3 for examples. Have students work in small groups and use one of the human rights documents: 1) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2) Convention on the Rights of the Child, 3) Minnesota Human Rights Act. The groups should decide if the articles contain any issues pertaining to human rights. Students should identify and list human rights issues in the articles and share their findings with another group that is using a different document.

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b1udhr.htm

    Convention on the Rights of the Child http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/k2crc.htm

    Minnesota Human Rights Act http://www.humanrights.state.mn.us/employer_363_emp.html

    2. Handouts

  2. Raising Awareness

    1. Invite a representative from an immigrant or refugee community, or a non-profit organization that works with immigrants and refugees (e.g., Advocates for Human Rights at www.adrights.org ) to speak to your class. If time and resources permit, organize a panel discussion.

    2. Have the students review the online brochure on immigration in Minnesota developed by the Minneapolis Foundation:

      Immigration in Minnesota: Discovering Common Ground http://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/immigration/overview.htm

      Review definitions pertaining to immigration at http://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/immigration/overview.htm#definitions

      Divide students into groups and assign a research project on a particular immigrant community in Minnesota. Groups can use the brochure as well as other sources and make a presentation to the class. For current trends and statistics, refer students to:

      Twin Cities Compass - www.tccompass.org
      Mind the Gap Report: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2005/10cities_sohmer/20051027_mindthegap.pdf