r/altmpls

I’m a Somali American Minnesotan, and I’m disturbed by the reports of teenage gun violence in our communities. Violence is unacceptable. Victims deserve justice, neighborhoods deserve safety, and anyone responsible should be held accountable, regardless of their background.

But accountability and collective blame are two different things.

When someone commits a crime, that person is responsible. Their ethnicity does not make everyone who shares it a suspect. Yet in discussions about fraud and now teenage violence, “Somali” too often becomes the headline, the explanation, and the accusation.

Minnesota deals with crimes committed by people from many backgrounds. We generally understand that an individual’s actions do not define an entire ethnic community. Somali Americans deserve that same basic fairness.

I’m not asking anyone to hide facts or avoid discussing difficult issues. If there are gangs, investigate them. If people commit fraud, prosecute them. If teenagers are carrying guns and hurting people, intervene and hold those responsible accountable. Discuss the failures and circumstances that allow these problems to grow.

But attaching “Somali” to every discussion of crime does not explain what happened or help prevent the next incident. It encourages people to associate an entire community with criminal behavior.

And when that framing comes from elected officials, prominent public figures, media outlets, or law enforcement, it carries weight. I worry about what it means for ordinary Somali Americans going to work, raising children, attending school, and living their lives. They should not have to answer for strangers’ crimes or wonder whether someone sees them as a threat because of their name or appearance.

Our community can be horrified by violence, demand accountability, and reject prejudice at the same time. Those positions are completely consistent.

The victims must remain central to this conversation. Their suffering should never become a tool for stirring up hostility toward people who had nothing to do with it.

Let’s demand safer neighborhoods, serious prevention, and equal accountability. We can fight crime without creating more hatred between neighbors.

Hold the people responsible accountable. Don’t put an entire community on trial.

MnDOT is producing a statewide bicycle system plan and is looking for public comments. They are looking for feedback on infrastructure for biking and bike-like modes of transportation, barriers to use, and motivations to ride.

I went on X and noticed that the accounts who lately yap about Somalis ALL the time typically also want to:

1. Terminate social services - medicaid, food, housing - to hurt the disadvantaged
2. Eliminate social mobility
3. Normalize bigoted language against the Other
4. Normalize treating individuals as member of a group rather than as an individual
5. Make Minnesota white again
6. Make life in Minnesota hellish for the Other
7. Rid Minnesota of public transportation
8. Geographically segregate the poor
9. Strengthen male patriarchy
10. Cause distrust in expert opinion
11. Force public adoration of MAGA policies
12. Restrict citizenship rights to whites

This is why anti-Somali xenophobia is a red flag for a whole lot of other highly undesirable traits.

VOTE BLUE!