By Katherine Holbrook
Houston, MN
Questions regarding Adoption of Resolution 24-06 – Opposition To Redesigned State Flag and Seal:
1.) Were the concerns of expense cited in Sheriff Swedberg’s memo communicated to the State Legislators Emblems Redesign Commission when it was elected in May of last year?
2.) Were they addressed with the Redesign Commission during the months of September 2023 – January 1, 2024, while design submissions were actively pursued? Or December 19, 2023, when the new design was officially approved?
3.) Was discussion within the commission or with state legislators exploring solutions to this economic barrier conducted? How do the commissioners justify “refusal to accept” as the best solution to this economic challenge?
4.) Is Sheriff Swedberg’s memo detailing his estimated cost to the public accessible for public review?
5.) Have the people of Houston County been surveyed in any manner that would safely confirm this resolution represents the majority consent of the Houston County constituent population?
6.) If the answer to the above questions are affirmative, are these actions and relative data documented and available to the public? If the answers are negative, why not?
Summary of my concern as a citizen of Houston County:
It is counter productive, both fiscally and constitutionally, to approach this issue in a contradictory manner.
Please consider the Redesign Commission was granted $45,000 to create a new state flag and seal. That money is wasted if counties like Houston refuse to dialogue or contemplate a compromise.
The concerns expressed now, January 2024, should have been assessed and submitted long before a flag was chosen.
Politicking in a contradictory manner, especially if the appropriate measures to source solutions or survey constituents have not been sought, then money, time and resources already invested are wasted while you risk the prospect of requiring more resources that are needed elsewhere and likely surpass the costs originally in question.
The kind of diplomacy the people of Minnesota, the residents of Houston County need is forward-thinking, solution-minded goals that entail listening, analysis, negotiation and, if need be, compromise. To me, this resolution reflects the opposite.
The flag was redesigned for a number of reasons. To me, the most important being it doesn’t respectfully represent all Minnesotans. It gravely disparages those victimized by our tragic history of colonialism and discrimination. It does not reflect the ethics and morality we, as Minnesotans, aspire to uphold.
Scored 62 out of 72, the former Minnesota state flag miserably failed the standard of “an easily recognizable symbol of unity” by the NAVA flag association. This score was based on technical design, alone, unrelated to the contentious symbolism of the illustration.
The MN state flag has been denounced for reinflicting wounds of racism, assimilation, oppression, genocide and colonialism for decades. To deny this is to turn a deaf ear to the voices of the Minnesota people whom elected officials, such as yourselves, have taken an oath to represent.
The former flag design was inspired by a poem written by Mary Eastman, wife of its designer, Seth Eastman, which included such lines as: “…Give way young warrior, thou and thy steed give way,… the white man claims them, now…” Please, consider what this means to us as citizens of Minnesota. Please reflect upon how this image affects us and why it is not a unifying, peaceful image.
To me, the new design is beautiful. It is unifying in simple, geographically meaningful symbolism that is easily recognizable and everyone can claim as their own.
Your decision, commissioners, to oppose state’s order for a new flag design does not have my support, your “message” to state legislators does not have my signature, and your resolution does not have my consent.
I hope you will take the time to review the questions and provide the public with answers.
I am encouraged by the new design and opposed to Resolution 24-06, however, I am also discouraged with the brand of diplomacy, or lack thereof, becoming pervasive in America’s political canvas. I believe a democracy requires research, timely dialogue and problem solving initiatives over retro resistance policies when there are options available.
Thank you so much for your time, service and consideration.
Lyman Grieve says
I just read the Editorial by Publisher Jason Sethre.. I agree with him 100%. Why are there so many who wish to erase”History”? I see no issue with our current state flag. My opinion is that anyone who would look at the new proposed flag, would never believe it was the state flag of MN.
The amount of money that will be spent by all counties is a total waste of taxpayer money. That several million dollars will be spent to have MN have a new flag should not surprise anyone. The state of MN reportedly had an $18 Billion dollar surplus in 2023. One political party controlling both the Senate & the House & the Governor’s Office spent almost all of it.. Very little was returned to MN taxpayers. They were to busy approving the legalization of Marijuana & approving abortion up to full term of pregnancy.
Lyman Grieve
Anonymous says
Concern about the expense? If the funding allocated to this process was $45.000, and the 2023 population of the state was 5,737,915 people, the cost per citizen of Minnesota would amount to $0.0078 per person. That’s just slightly over 3/4 of a penny for each man, woman and child in the state. For someone who feels sufficiently aggrieved, I’m sure that you could find someone who supported this idea, and if you asked respectfully, then would give you a penny out of their own pocket, and think of it this way — you’d come out of it $0.0022 cents to the good, almost a quarter of a cent profit. That would allow such aggrieved persons to feel much better about the financial aspect of this process. Maybe if someone is willing to give Swedberg a penny, he might feel much better, t0o.
A number of states that were among the Old Confederacy have removed the symbol of the Confederate flag from their own state flags in recent years. The first time I visited the South Carolina State Capitol, they proudly flew a Confederate flag from the top of their Capitol Dome. During a more recent to that capitol building, the flag had been taken down.
For those who are willing to face the history of this nation, as regards our nation’s treatment of our indigenous people, I can make no higher recommendation than to read, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown.
Is the new flag an improvement over the one that it replaced? Its neutrality is most certainly to be commended. For a look at other state flags, and the variety of designs across the country, this is a useful resource: https://www.50states.com/flag/
This story published by the Associated Press regarding Minnesota’s new state flag provides some useful information: https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-state-flag-native-americans-5c54596964bd3bb06f14d4e9a1acfade
According to the AP News article linked in the preceding paragraph, the total funding allocated to this process was $35,000, which, if accurate, represented an actual cost of 0.61 cents per person in Minnesota. So if someone might be willing to give those who feel aggrieved, as well as Swedberg, a penny, their profit would be even higher — 0.39 cents. Also, according to that article, there were more than 2600 submissions for the new design. Hopefully, those who are complaining about its appearance submitted a design of their own for consideration. Of course, not every single person is bound to “get their way”, nor are all of the 11 federally recognized Ojibwe and Dakota tribes certain to be equally pleased with the slogan on the state seal.
There are likely many in SE Minnesota who would clamor for mandatory school prayer, all assuming that the prayer favored by their denomination or sect will become the standard for the entire state. Almost every religion has various splinter groups. The three primary divisions of the Jewish faith include orthodox, conservative and reform variations. And the Lutheran Church, not to be outdone, has more than 40 different denominations in the United States. If the U. S. Supreme Court is to be the final arbiter, those whose background is Catholic hold a clear majority in the court, so perhaps the Protestants will be required to learn their practices. One can only imagine the spectacle of each denomination demanding that their faith tradition become the law of the land, and the predictable aftermath that would follow. Those who might envision a peaceful outcome are ignoring thousands of years of human history to date.
The treatment of the indigenous people of present-day Minnesota is hardly cause for civic pride, except for those for whom cruelty is the ultimate virtue. Except for the descendants of those who were already in the state when the first European settlers arrived, everyone else, in a sense, is living on stolen land. It would seem that some respect for the sentiments of those whose ancestors were robbed of their lands and those present day descendants, who were robbed of their birthright, might have a legitimate claim to be afforded a voice in the flag redesign process.
Do the Minnesota State History textbooks used in public schools, if that is even still allowed, mention that matter of Minnesota being home to the largest mass execution in our nation’s history? Pressed to the brink of starvation, caused by broken promises by white settlers, the indigenous people rose up in what was referred to as the Dakota War of 1862. Although 303 indigenous people who participated in the uprising were condemned to death, Abraham Lincoln and two assistants reviewed the records for every trial, and in the end, he commuted the sentences of 265 of the condemned, allowing 38 to be executed. The mass hanging was scheduled for 26 December 1862. when the 38 condemned all hung simultaneously from a mass gallows, about a block from the south end of the Main Street Bridge in Mankato9, Minnesota. The site of that execution was on the property occupied by the main Mankato Regional Library Branch. I frequented that library many times over the years, and it was only fairly recently that a marker was added to commemorate that event in Minnesota’s history.
The details of the circumstances leading up to this uprising, as well as the disposition of the remains of those who were executed is not for the faint of heart.
According to the Wikipedia article about the topic, “In 2012 and 2013, Governor Ramsey’s 1862 call for the Dakota to “be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the State” was repudiated,” That repudiation didn’t take place until 150 years later.
If someone reading this truly believed that they could design a new state flag that absolutely everyone would have liked, hopefully they submitted that design prior to the conclusion of the selection process.
Kim Wentworth says
Our history is our history and no amount of flag redesign will change that. Your thoughts on “stolen land” is laughable on its face. Nobody owned land before it was settled. Mistreatment of people by people happened sadly. No amount of flag redesign or the asinine concept of reparations will solve that. The flag and seal we have had all these years shows our history perfectly. Oh, I know it’s allowed but “anonymous” in my world shows your lack of conviction.
Kim Wentworth says
A couple of points if I may; flag redesign like label rebranding and sport logo changes, removing historical statues are nothing more than wokeness gone wild. The flag and our seal represent our statehood history. You write ” racism, assimilation, oppression,genocide and colonialism”. Migration of multiple ethnic peoples is an example of any of the things you mentioned?? woke. Katherine, I feel from your letter aunt Jemima and the Washington Redskins football emblem to name a couple were also wrong in some way, woke.
Mary Eastman’s poem is a wonderful poem describing European migration and the settling of the land that became Minnesota. Mr. Eastman captures everything so eloquently with his design. Like the wonderful symbol of a cherished loved one, aunt Jemima, you woke people have no moral compass or common sense. You try to change and/or stamp out our history, which you have absolutely no right to try and do. Now, I could write out the true story of the Redskin symbol but you already know the story, you just don’t care, shame on you. In closing, who the heck is the NAVA flag association? I can about imagine.
Teresa Walter says
I do agree as listened to the research on the new seal and was well done. We need the update.
Brandon Olson says
Have you considered the cost to us tax payers to change the flag and seal? Who was surveyed about the “racist” flag and seal? Only the highly liberal in the cities. I have seen the cost for the change and its not something im willing to pay. I stand with Swedberg.
Jay Jensen says
A well crafted presentation. The new flap proposed is however not a good idea. The history and heritage of MN is our own and we will live with it wether we run from it or not.
Carol Abrahamzon says
Excellent letter. I concur!