Foreword

If you are reading this foreword, it is most likely that you are also enrolled in a Minnesota History course at Saint Paul College. First, I would like to welcome you to the course and this open educational resource (OER), which I have developed to supplement its delivery. I have been teaching this Minnesota course for a number of years and have always wished I had the time and the resources to develop a central text that better served the college audience. During the academic year of 2021-2022, I had the opportunity to take a sabbatical from teaching to work on that task. Since then, I have continued to rework and update the text to keep the work current.

At its core, Progressive Paradox attempts to create a concise narrative that presents an introduction to Minnesota history while making connections to the abundant online resources of the Minnesota Historical Society. In addition, the text connects Minnesota’s story to our national narrative by intertwining relevant aspects of U.S. history in each chapter. I tried to make the narrative as concise as practical to leave room to incorporate other resources. Knowing what is covered in other components of the course made this task a little more manageable. Regardless, I found it a bit tricky to decide what outside resources to incorporate for context without disjointing the narrative. In the end, I created a pop-up glossary of hundreds of terms, mostly connected to the historical society’s online encyclopedia MNOpedia. I have also incorporated video clips into the text that serve to further expand upon points introduced in the narrative. Perhaps the most rewarding experience of this project was creating on-location interview videos with Minnesota Historical Society and National Park Service site managers. The first five of these videos are currently embedded in our text, and I am continuing to develop additional recordings. These connections, along with the additional resources provided for us in our course learning management system, attempt to provide access to useful resources without becoming overwhelming.

That I had written this book during a stressful time in the state and nation’s history has undoubtedly impacted its current form. In 2021, we were facing a variety of challenges that included a global climate crisis, virtually unchecked gun violence, and an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We were also in the midst of a nationwide argument over systemic racism that was propelled by George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in May of 2020. Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement it bolstered had resulted in a “culture war” of sorts that had percolated down into our history classrooms. And finally, we were attempting to pick up the pieces from a contested presidential election that failed to result in a peaceful transfer of power – a core tenet of our political system. These daunting challenges were made worse by the fact that Minnesotans and Americans fundamentally disagreed about the nature of the issues and the appropriate paths forward. In fact, a failure to agree on basic facts surrounding these challenges had made meaningful discussions about them elusive.

While it has only been a handful of years since I wrote the first draft of this book, it feels like we are in a much different place today. Joe Biden’s presidency began chaotically in January of 2021, shortly after supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to halt the Congressional certification of Biden’s victory. Biden went on to lead the country during the waning years of the COVID-19 pandemic, enacting policies and legislation that aligned with Democratic priorities of focusing resources on the disadvantaged, investing in clean energy, and supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Throughout his term, Biden struggled to secure the southern border, was plagued by high inflation, and faced withering criticism from the political Right. At the same time, despite having been impeached and acquitted twice while in office and later convicted of 34 felonies, former President Donald Trump continued to dominate the Republican Party and enjoy widespread support in conservative states and rural areas across the nation. Trump easily secured the Republican nomination for President as the 2024 election cycle began. After Joe Biden appeared confused and struggled to express himself during a debate, he lost the support of the Democratic Party and dropped out of the race. Biden’s Vice President, Kamala Harris, became the nominee in his place and selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.

In an astonishing political comeback, Donald Trump won the presidential election and returned to office in January 2025. During his first 100 days back in office, President Trump has issued 142 executive orders that have worked to reverse Biden’s policies, extend the power of the presidency, reduce the size of the federal workforce, limit immigration, guide social policy, and remake the American economy. The nature, scope, and pace of his actions have created an ongoing constitutional crisis and resulted in over 200 lawsuits.

Of particular interest to our study of Minnesota history is the Trump Administration’s interest in combating what it sees as a liberal bias in academia. Even as it works to dismantle the Department of Education, the administration is attempting to use it to dictate admission, hiring, curricular, and permissible student activism policies on campuses. Not only is this at odds with the Biden Administration’s support of DEI efforts, but it also runs counter to the Minnesota State System’s Equity 2030 initiative that aims to “eliminate the educational equity gaps at every Minnesota State college and university” by 2030. As part of the Minnesota State System, Saint Paul College has also made a local commitment to becoming anti-racist and trauma-informed . At this point, neither the system nor the college has backed down from their commitments to equity.

Central to the federal government’s unprecedented attack on academia’s independence is a debate about race and how we teach our nation’s history. Essentially, what story we tell. One approach, advocated by politicians and academics on the political Right, suggests that we should highlight the triumphs of our past and downplay the difficult aspects of our history. They argue that focusing on past wrongs only serves to divide us today, and that America is a unique success story, and its history should be celebrated. A second approach, advocated by much of academia, acknowledges that our history includes devastating mistreatment of African Americans, indigenous peoples, immigrants, and other marginalized communities. These shortcomings and their legacies have not only created today’s inequalities but have also resulted in societal structures that continue to perpetuate these disparities. Those advocating this focus argue that understanding our difficult history is the first step in addressing the inequalities we face today.

Sadly, this debate is often argued loudest by people far away from our classrooms and incorrectly assumes that we cannot do both. I believe that these approaches are not mutually exclusive. This book will both trumpet the triumphs of our past and honor the contributions Minnesotans have made to our nation and world. It will also discuss, however, our more difficult past, which has marginalized groups of Minnesotans and led to the equity gaps that the Minnesota State’s Equity 2030 Initiative is working to address. Not doing so would be dishonest.

As the ground seems to shift beneath our feet, history teaches us that it is impossible to know how historically significant current events will become because we do not yet have the benefit of time to understand the long-term impacts. Will world governments be able to cooperate to slow the warming of the planet? Will the protest movement sparked by George Floyd’s murder result in meaningful changes? Will the unprecedented political crisis we are facing be overcome, or bring an end to our democratic government? We can’t currently know the answers to these questions. A collective understanding of our history, however, will equip us to better meet these challenges. Additionally, knowing our history provides a bit of reassurance – we have been in difficult situations in the past and have found workable, although never perfect, ways forward.

– Kurt Kortenhof, May 2025