the More Things Change .... the More they Stay the Same

I have to admit that I am stubbornly disappointed and saddened at the results of our Minneapolis 2021 elections. As much as we disagree, everyone would admit that this city has seen so much unrest and flux over the last 16 months. The world has literally shifted beneath us and we have all been searching for our own answers. And the Mantra since then is that we can never go back, we need to find out what our new normal is going to be. 

And yet, after all that, we as a community chose to stay exactly the same! With a handful of mayor candidates that came in all colors and backgrounds, we chose again to elect the dynamic white man back into office when 6 mos. ago he was practically being stoned in the streets. I am not saying he is evil or even a bad choice. But he is the status quo - or a lack of change. We are "okay" with this.

The monumental Police Ballot question has been a barometer of consequence since it was first raised a year ago. Our whole city had uprisings that burned acres. We all demanded change. But when it came down to it, fear won out and we again choose to keep our streets under the same authority even though everyone seems to align that it is not working. We are "okay" with this.

Even with a handful of City Council races in upsets, which include a few women, we seem to have gone with the white male quotient rather than make sweeping changes.

So where is this radical change that had been chanted for months now? I don't believe it can be said that the voters did not show up. I think it is the opposite; that they did show up, but when it came down to putting it in black & white, people chose fear. As much as we like to trumpet our Minneapolis Values of progressiveness and diversity, they are empty cries. Sure we have pretty parks and lakes, a few good theaters and some tasty eateries. But when it comes down to leading the way as a metropolitan area, we are just like everyone else. Des Moines, Madison, Sioux Falls - nice Midwestern towns that serves as a 2nd stop tourist destination when someone needs to visit family maybe. We are nowhere near a leader on urban progressiveness.

I had lots of conversations with neighbors and friends about all these topics. On both sides of the votes. There will be more years of trying to "work from within and make positive change." But that right was wasted in an election like this. It is all water cooler talk that sounds good in Mpls Monthly magazines, but does nothing to actually move the envelope further forward. We are left exactly right back where we started. No one really wins, we all just stay the same. And obviously for most of us, that is just fine. Sad. And pathetic.