Book Review: A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, Edited by Sun Yung Shin (2016)

 

Cover of A Good Time for the Truth, edited by Sun Yung Shin, 2016.

A Good Time for The Truth: Race in Minnesota, edited by Sun Yung Shin, was published in 2016 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, and it’s a book that everyone in Minnesota should read. I’ll admit, it was one of those books where I thought, “Oh yeah, I should read that” when it first came out, but I didn’t actually pick it up until after George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.

As a white liberal Minnesotan, I’ll admit that I was in denial that our state still had problems with race. I grew up in Minneapolis in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and throughout my schooling racism and civil rights were subjects that were always taught as being part of the past. The prevailing view back then seemed to be the “I don’t see race” theory that talking about our differences wasn’t helpful.

The last few years have been a slow awakening for me, as I realize that Minnesota, and the United States, still has a long way to go on the issue of race relations, and the goal of creating a more just and equitable society for all. As more and more incidents of young Black men being killed by the police kept happening throughout the country, I stupidly thought, “Well, but that’s Missouri, that’s Maryland, that wouldn’t happen in Minnesota.” And then Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer. I knew the spot where Castile was pulled over and shot, just north of the State Fairgrounds, I frequently drove past the elementary school where he worked. And then I realized that it could happen here.

A Good Time for the Truth collects essays from 16 Minnesotan authors of various backgrounds. Their approaches and experiences differ, but they all write about how difficult it is to fit in with the white majority in Minnesota. In David Mura’s essay, he writes the following: “And I know I will never really ever be considered a true Minnesotan, despite my forty years here, despite the three children I’ve raised here, despite all the art I’ve created and participated in here.” (p.54) I found that quote to be very moving. It saddens me that this is how Mura feels. I want to think that Minnesota is a welcoming place, and that you don’t have to be white to be considered a “true Minnesotan.” I’d certainly consider anyone who’s lived in the state for forty years to be a “true Minnesotan,” but I understand that there are more issues at work here than just the number of years you’ve lived in the state. I assume that Mura means that there are ways in which he still feels like an outsider, or ways in which Minnesotans make him feel like an outsider.

One of my favorite essays in the book was “Dark Trees in the Landscape of Love,” by Kao Kalia Yang. Yang’s poetic and expressive gift for language are exceptional, and her skill makes her writing a pleasure to read, even when it’s telling white people truths they might not want to hear.

A Good Time for the Truth is essential reading for white Minnesotans, as a way of attempting to broaden our perspectives and attempt to see how our state looks through the eyes of other people living here.