MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd’s death under a white police officer’s knee severely tarnished Minnesota’s reputation as a progressive state on matters of race. Many Black residents say it was never deserved in the first place. Minnesota’s polite exterior has long concealed some of the country’s worst racial disparities, especially when it comes to employment, housing and education. As the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death approaches, Minnesota is still debating whether anything has changed — or will. University of Minnesota professor Samuel Myers Jr. has spent years documenting what he calls “The Minnesota Paradox” — factors that make the state a far better place for white residents than their Black neighbors.
