By: secretsquirrel on 11/27/09
FINALLY! Something to distract the community from racial, cultural and social tensions in the community! Talk about timing. LOL

"Vaillancourt said there is nothing in their research to suggest a KKK chapter is re-surfacing in the area.

“We heard no rumors, no inquiries about that. Most people are just really disgusted that those people were here. The people that had been involved, most of their family members are no longer in the area,” Vaillancourt said. “I don’t see a group restarting like the Klan here but we have to be careful because it is easy to get caught up in the emotions.”"

By: Orwell on 11/27/09
Could not believe the timing of the article either-OPP what on earth are you thinking?

By: atlascollapsed on 11/27/09
“Irony is a disciplinarian feared only by those who do not know it, but cherished by those who do” Kierkegaard

By: Buster on 11/27/09
Jeffrey,
For someone who stated they did not want to fan the fires at OHS, why would you do a front page article on the KKK in Owatonna. Sorry, to say it, but you are an idiot.

By: secretsquirrel on 11/27/09
Whoaaaaaaaaa! Stop the bus! I have no problem with the OPP printing this article. Personally, I think it's funny as heck! My concern lies not with the publisher but the reader(s).
How much confidence does anyone really have in people's ability to read this and NOT turn it into an issue related to the OHS. It's NOT but try to explain that people like.... oh never mind. ;)
LOL

By: igor74 on 11/27/09
Sheeh folks, get a grip here.

The article's timing is tied to the release of the story in the Minnesota Historical Society magazine. It's just a matter of coincidence.

Are we getting so paranoid that we can't even face a fact of our history with cringing in fear of it?

By: MayMay on 11/27/09
lol i too think its funny

By: atlascollapsed on 11/27/09
Some thoughts on possible future projects for the historical society that the OPP can run stories on;

Owatonnans who supported the Nazi's during WWII.

Steele countians who joined the confereate army during the civl war.

Locals who support the genocide in Rawanda and Sudan.

And with some digging I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to find people from our fair city who participated in the crusades or the Spanish inquisition!

If you look hard enough you can find skeletons in everyone's closet. There always have been and always will be idiots with some radical ideas. A community as a whole shouldn't be judged on the prior bad acts of a few.

By: trueblue on 11/27/09
RIGHT ON IGOR... People who throw a fit about the timing of this article are the same people that are perpetuating this ultra-sensitivity to the matter. Relax a little, it just might do everyone some good.

By: alittlebitofsugar on 11/27/09
AC wrote, If you look hard enough you can find skeletons in everyone's closet. There always have been and always will be idiots with some radical ideas. A community as a whole shouldn't be judged on the prior bad acts of a few.

You make a strong case for the part of our community that has been judged as a whole this past week.

You know what the saddest part of this story is to me? That the organization was large enough to have a WOMENS chapter. WOW!

By: FEIDO on 11/27/09
Cospiracy theory?Secret societies? Oh Jesse Ventura where are you? There probobly are people wondering where do they sign up.I think the new club is called White Supremacy Movement.Communities can do nothing to stop them unless they do illegal activities.Most people would be surprised to know what their neighbor is up to,even in todays world.Wether it is A.L.F.,Green Peace,Neo Nazis',Rajnahishas,Mafia,Bloods,Crips,M.S.13,who knows what your co-worker does after hours.Only history can teach the wrongs of the past so they don't repeat.Perhaps this lesson is right on time.Guard The Word and Shepard Thy Rival.

By: nuthatch on 11/27/09
opp...I read the story and not once thought of what's going on at OHS (because the article was about history) until I went on this blog sooooo...don't answer to one idiot. It's only one paranoid person that can't get past it.

By: atlascollapsed on 11/27/09
A good point sugar. The Somali community as whole shouldn't be judged anymore than the people of Owatonna should. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and they have a right to be judgemental about whomever they choose. My issue is with lumping entire groups together.

Here's a pefect example for forum followers. Secretsquirrel, Ksanh68 and mysyself are all pretty much 1 IQ point away from being diagnosed as clilicly braindead and we all happen to be Marines. Does that mean all Marines should be thought of that way? No, there are plenty of smart Marines. Ok maybe not plenty but some, or at least a few. Well 2 or 3 for sure anyway.

If this had started as Persons A,B and C are Somalian and taking advantage of the system, here's the proof. I have no problem whatsoever with that. It wasn't and a ethnic group was villified as a whole which is wrong. The same thing with responses in the forums. Poster 1,2 and 3 make ignorant and racist comments and all Owatonna is suddenly a racist community. Not true either. Heck I've been called a racist numerous times in these forums because I disagree with President Obama or certain social programs. Does it bother me? Not one bit because I know it isn't true.

This whole mess basically boils down to someone stupid saying/writing something and the offended party got pissed. Should have been handled like Kelso teaching Jackie on that 70's show. A simple "Whatever" would have saved a lot of headaches.

By: Bush on 11/27/09
I cant believe this the first thing I thought about was OHS. WOW am scared.

By: O.Tool on 11/27/09
Not bad analysis for a jarhead, ac. Actually, pretty damn right on. Thieves, thugs, swindlers, racists, dickheads, tools (oops), scumbags, slimeballs and all other sorts of undesireables come in all shapes, sizes and colors. So do pretty wonderful people.

So judge each player based on their own actions. When we start lumping everyone together based on a physical characteristic, that's when the trouble starts.

By: secretsquirrel on 11/27/09
Okay, here's a couple more nuggets:
1. No one is cringing in fear. Several of us are rolling with laughter.
2. No one in their right mind could read about the OHS debacle and NOT make an immediate connection with 'recent events' (which shall remain nameless in the interests of staying on topic as THAT topic has literally been beaten to death [yes, another morbid pun]).
3. It's not as if they wrote a piece on somebody we know whose great grandfather made millions of dollars 100 years ago selling "White only" signs to southern states and is trying to resurrect the business.
It's history. The comments made by many of us are tongue-in-cheek because we see it as a history lesson with hysterically comedic timing. An article like this is like having the skeleton key to the locker holding every extremist in the city. Some are going to weep in shame, some are going to make racist rants, other (like me) are going to sit back and watch the whole thing play out again because people will not let it go.
There are a lot of really cool people in this town and I would put our standards of acceptance up against any community in the state... the nation.
Sugar: You ever see those History Channel shows on the Klan? They were enormous in the 20's! I heard they finally decided to become respectable businessmen.... and women ;) and opened a bath and body store in the MOA selling soaps and fine linens.

AC: How come you and kasahn68 got an IQ point and all I got was chevrons??? NOT fair!

By: Jesus_isKing on 11/27/09
If any of you know Nancy, she is a very caring person and probably takes this personally. She is a good woman so I hope you are not saying these hurtful things about her. The timing is amazing though. She has been working on this before this took place at the OHS, and I SERIOUSLY doubt her research is aiming at the school problem.

By: wally10kg21 on 11/27/09
Bush... please go over what you're typing before you submit it. Your posts continue to make no sense.

By: Oliver on 11/27/09
I think it's friggin hilarious! Awesome timing! I think a modern local chapter made up of angry OHS parents is being organized as we speak.LOL!!!

Seriously,history is just that,HISTORY! Get over it you crybabies who associate this article to the problems at OHS!

By: quinn on 11/27/09
Years ago, a young man I worked with hung a confederate flag in the back window of his truck. To piss of the Somalis, he said. I don't think I could look at him without laughing for a month.

S, don't forget the rogue sect of local women who disband to help stoners "cramming" for drug tests, pre MOA.

By: just_my_opinion on 11/27/09
I do agree that some are "over reacting" about this article. But..seriously OPP, show some class. This article is just adding fuel to the fire for some.

By: Bush on 11/27/09
These people need to be stoped I am scared for the somali community.

By: Bush on 11/27/09
Hay quinn!!! most somalis don't know what the confederate flag is. Somali people just migrated to the U.S. They were never SLAVES.There is a diference,You are ignorant.

By: criticus on 11/27/09
Bush, What are you on?

By: Drew on 11/28/09
Bush, for the third and last time, hay is for horses....TOOL!

By: fairandbalanced on 11/28/09
No evidence that it is re-surfacing? Well, now the seed is planted in someone's little mind....

By: Tiny on 11/28/09
SS,Ac this is my opinion: I'am Catholic it don't bother Me one bit, but I see alot of the same thing but differnt religions, and I don't think the whole thing is about color but how religion rights is given priority in state an school! When its not suppose to be there. PS iI think it's cool Women did have rights in the 20's and 30's lol

By: ksanh68 on 11/28/09
ac, Of all the things I've lost...I miss my mind the most. M-A-R-I-N-E-S= Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not E-Sential.

ss, the chevron thing makes me wonder about The Peter Principle. ;)

or possibly

What's the difference between the Boy Scouts and the Marine Corps?

The Boy Scouts have adult leadership.
(Jarhead self depreciating humor)
Our right, but others please use caution, this trio of temerity might not agree on everything, but on one thing we do for sure.

But enough about us and back on topic... Real men don't allow women to wear hooded robes or burkhas (mea culpa, I couldn't help myself).

By: secretsquirrel on 11/28/09
For more than just basic training....

K: I refuse to make my 'wet burhka' remark... really, I do.

I like the idea of a burkha. They are a major improvement over the Roseanne Barr wardrobe some women maintain: Eighteen different colors of sweat suits and one evening dress.

Enjoy the differences because if we were all the same there would be nothing to chuckle about. The funniest things in my world are the things that I screw up and my own skewed perspective.

I think some here are lost in our wry humor. Like speaking a different language. Oddly enough one example is Bush validating quinn's excellent point that the redneck did not realize the slight would be lost on the Somali's and believing he was pointing this out to quinn. Good catch Bush! ;)

By: ksanh68 on 11/28/09
ss, My idea of a nurse's outfit was too much for her, the wet burkha idea really didn't fly with the Mrs.

Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.

By: FEIDO on 11/28/09
That's right fairandbalanced,now how about a story about malitias next to plant more seeds.

By: secretsquirrel on 11/28/09
They did an article on the old migrant barracks at the Faribault Foods plant last year. Very interesting and it also came on the heels of some school issues in the community. Faribault survived and the school issues will one day become a part of some blog somewhere and be an interesting side note to the city's history. Shurg. Who cares? It's all technically going to be history by tomorrow anyway.

By: Bush on 11/28/09
The point I am trying to get across is that most somali people don't know when someone is trying to be Racist for example Quinn post is about a red neck who hung a confederate flag in the back window of his truck to offend somali people , but most somalis don't know what it stands for.

By: quinn on 11/28/09
Honestly, do I really need to say this? Bush, that is the ONLY reason it was funny. Thanks for the history lesson but I might have had an inkling of that beforehand. The point I was trying to get across was that he was a half-wit.

Sorry for being tiresome all others, just seemed a little clarification was needed.

By: secretsquirrel on 11/28/09
ksanh68 - I can relate. My wife nearly threw me out of the house when I came to bed one night wearing nothing but my squirrel head and a big bushy tail.
Heck, I thought it was kinda chic. Nothing more appealing than a frisky rodent I thought. She disagreed and made me sleep in the tree that night.

quinn, do you sometimes think that someone is pulling your leg or that they really do not get it?
I have a sneaking suspicion that there is someone double posting on here because no one could possibly be that slow. My endless rants and nut jokes would definitely give me away.

By: quinn on 11/29/09
It has crossed my mind, ss, especially when the word racist is capitalized yet Somali is spelled with the lower case s.

By: ksanh68 on 11/29/09
Looking at the picture with this article and the banner's top line "GOLDEN SEAL KLAN", I can't help visualizing Como Zoo with a line of female seals all with halo hoops. Clapping their flippers while balancing burning torches on their snoots. While in the background a mob of male seals are milling around chanting, "walruses are a worthless subspecies, ignorant and a waste of blubber".

And the banner's second line has me hearing that lyrical refrain from the beatles white album: number 012, number 012, number 012. On the other hand this whole episodic manifestation may have been caused by the out of date yogurt I had for breakfast?

By: secretsquirrel on 11/29/09
quinn - I almost think a person would have to work at it to come off that way...
ksanh68 - Or a Timothy Leery experience.... ;)
"Turn on, tune in, drop out"
I think I HAVE that album around here somewhere.
Got to say the scariest part of all this for me is the fact that I actually come HERE to find peace. LOL

By: quinn on 11/29/09
Ditto, ss, but they might just be incredibly thick.

K, Flippers might be an issue when lighting said torches.;)

By: LovingLife on 11/30/09
I thought that M-A-R-I-N-E-S stood for My a$$ rides in Navy Equipment Sir!:)

By: ksanh68 on 11/30/09
ss, skoal, here's to peace in time. If you remember the 60's you weren't there. :)

LL, that might be true and I must admit the chow on the ships was 5-star compared to our usual fare. But, at least I wasn't made to wear a dixie cup on my head when going ashore(meant good naturally to my naval brethren). ;)

By: NotAMoron on 11/30/09
I echo the sentiments of Jesus_isKing. Nancy Vaillancourt is the bomb and has been working on this project for a long time. She's probably the kindest person I've ever met. This is a historical thing and nothing more and has NOTHING to do with OHS.

Oh, and if any of you noticed earlier, Bush mentioned he/she was from junior high...

By: FEIDO on 12/1/09
Bush,some day I hope you grow into a big tree that bends instead of a little stiff bush.If my name was bush and I was going into high school,I would be scared to(Muslim people don't like people with the last name Bush).
Besides I think you should be two articles down where they are talking turkey.That's more your language.