A week ago, Beltrami Co. [became] the first in state to reject refugee resettlement, Minnesota Public Radio reported. The Pioneer Press noted the response in Boycott Bemidji? Beltrami County’s vote to ban refugees stirs a backlash.
The StarTribune looked at the county in Some residents say refugees would just make Beltrami County's struggles worse.
State Representative Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville, grew up in Beltrami County. She shared her thoughts on her campaign Facebook page. We repost it here with her permission.
I grew up in Beltrami County, Ten Lake Township to be exact. The land I grew up on is also Leech Lake Ojibwe tribal land, the home of my ancestors. More than 20% of Beltrami County residents are Native, primarily from Red Lake Nation and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, whose lands are encompassed by the County borders.
Sadly, I was not surprised that the majority of the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners voted against allowing refugee resettlement. I was not surprised because Beltrami County and the Bemidji area have faced problems rooted in racism for centuries. The irony is that the racism Beltrami County most often faces is rooted in the fact that immigrants came to the area, uninvited, displacing Indigenous folks. Then those immigrants imposed their language, their laws and their systems of power. Those systems of power benefit some at the expense of others, and through that lens, the vote only made official what so many of us already knew.
All that being said, Beltrami County is not necessarily a bad place to live. It was not a bad place to grow up, despite the poverty, despite the racism. Poverty and racism exist everywhere. I got to grow up on the same land as my ancestors, fish the same lakes, hear the same birds, walk the same woods. There is value in that and there is value in the people who choose to make Beltrami County their home today.
The Beltrami County Board of Commissioners is made up of five men. Three of those men voted against refugee resettlement. The views of these three men do not truly represent many of the people who live in Beltrami County. I know because my family and friends still live there. I visit them often and I have seen their anguish in the past week, as people across the world now know their home as an unwelcoming place.
I’ve seen the comments from people who vow to never visit Beltrami County, or spend money there, and I implore you to reconsider. Do not hold the votes of three scared old men against all of the other good people in Beltrami County who are worth knowing and worth supporting. Because a lot of those people are poor, and a lot of those people are Native, and the last thing they need right now is more hate.
The sadness, the anger, the hurt that those three votes caused - channel it in to helping local residents organize. Two of the Commissioners voted in favor of welcoming refugees, Tim Sumner and Reed Olson. Support them, make sure they get re-elected. Help Beltrami County residents to support candidates whose votes will not be guided by fear and hate. Have the courage to step up instead of turning your back. We need each other now more than ever.
Photo: State Representative Jamie Becker-Finn, from her campaign website's About page.
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