at that fair, and I attend every year. How many have applied, I do not know. That would be pertinent information, I think.

Are you including food vendors? Fairs big and small in the mid atlanctic the craft vendors are most white, however food vendors very diverse

so there are some ethnic food vendors there, but that's about it, from what I have observed.

Unequal results does not always mean unequal opportunity.

There could be discriminarion at work, or maybe there isnt.

I also find it a bit odd they complain about high number of blacks sweeping trash and taking tickets. I doubt those people own a business that is in a position to cater a food tent.

Instead I would imagine that they need 50 people to sweep trash and take tickets, and they take 50 people that applied. Would BLM be happier if they fired those people and brought in an equal number of white guys?

They make a lot of noise but they don't really have a goal to accomplish...other than sound bites.

End racism!
Ok, what are your plans?
We're not sure, but end racism.
You should have goals and a plan.
Why are you being a racist? We're going to scream at you now.

There was a group back then with the same "action plan."

One particularly ugly incident involved the student union's film series of historically significant political films. One of the films was "Triumph of the Will" and the context in which it was presented was to teach how subtle and dangerous well-made propaganda can be.

A couple of days before the film was scheduled to show a few members of the group came stampeding into the student union offices yelling their heads off. The program director consented to speak with them (an unwise move in my mind) so they started yelling at him and accused him of being a fascist anti-semite for allowing the film to be shown at all. (I was present when this all happened).

One small problem: the PD, who had approved the films in the series, was Jewish and he told them that little fact. Then he was a "self-hating Jew serving the oppressors." (I think these hammerheads were, or were trying to be, Maoists).

That ended the discussion and he ordered them out of the offices with a threat to call the campus kops if they didn't leave, which they did. The movie was shown, with a 10-minute contextual introduction from a leading history prof. They bitched about that, too.

These (taken from their website-- much more, including process, is there for the sincerely curious) appear to be valid goals. However, I can certainly understand how personal bias will compel a person to rationalize them as something other than what they are not.

"an end to all forms of discrimination and the full recognition of our human rights."
"full, living wage employment for our people."
"decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings and an end to gentrification."
"an end to the school to prison pipeline & quality education for all."
"freedom from mass incarceration and an end to the prison industrial complex."
"access to affordable healthy food for our neighborhoods."


More often than not, if we don't know too much about a thing, predicating a premise based on that lack of knowledge simply advertises our ignorance rather than an opinion. Though I empathize with your desire to appear knowledgeable about this...

I just got accused of being a racist for doing exactly what you described.

roughly 2500 people for the 12-day fair. That doesn't count vendor employees. So, there are way more than 50 people selling tickets and sweeping. It's a big-deal fair, with a huge attendance and a huge, permanent venue.

If 2500 people apply for jobs sweeping trash, collecting tickets are blak, then I would expect most of the hires will be black.

My point is, when somebody applys for a temp job to rip up ticket, nobody is going to ask them to bring in a catering truck. They are not qualified for that.

If most of the people or even all the applying to run a food truck or white, then that is not racism on the fairs part.

As far as I've been able to discover, no such numbers are available. Competition for vendor permits at this fair is fierce. Too few spaces and too many applicants. So, anyone coming in to try to be a new vendor is faced with the preference for proven vendors, many of whom have been there for many, many years. Current vendors have priority in the selection.

Some of the food vendors actually have permanent buildings on the fairgrounds, too. There are a bunch of trailer-style food vendors, too, and the same ones are predictably there year after year.

Employees are hired just for the duration of the fair. The pay is low and the hours are long. It's usually in the 90s during the fair, so it's hot, hard work. Vendors also hire employees during the fair. Imagine working in a tiny trailer over a deep fryer. It's brutal.

I see black employees every year, along with Asian and Hispanic employees. I don't do a count, though. Most are young, probably high school and college students. You can earn some bucks in those 12 days.

Vendors are not just food service places, either. There are a few hundred commercial exhibits at the fair, too, selling all sorts of cheap crap to attendees. I pay no attention to those, because I'm never in the market for cheap crap. I do eat at the fair, and plan what I'll be trying each year. There are always interesting new things. One year, a booth was selling camel meat on a stick. It wasn't very good, but I tried it anyhow Alligator, ostrich, walleye and other unusual foods are usually available as well. Who owns those vendors' trailers and booths? I have no idea. The owners aren't there, usually. Just employees.

Not those particular people, perhaps, but surely there are other African Americans who are, particularly in the Twin Cities; Minneapolis once had a black mayor.

This made me wince... I hope they have a list of some of those denied.

Like getting a Packers season ticket.

Priority goes to vendors who have been there, with longer tenure being weighted more heavily, like exhibitor space at trade shows, though the Fair makes a big deal about new food vendors each year. IIRC ALL would-be vendors have to go through a pretty rigorous application process to get a spot. It's not as though everyone who applies gets in. Space is limited and this is the biggest state fair in the country after Texas.

Here's a link to a list of food vendors: http://www.mnstatefair.org/find/food/

Looks like everything from A to Zed, as far as I can see, and especially a lot of Mexican/Latino food vendors, though it doesn't identify the actual persons owning the food stands.

Easy accusation to make and if they can't back it up, well.....

"That which has been asserted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence." Christopher Hitchens

Attendees are overwhelmingly white. Way more than the demographics of the area would predict. Now, why that is I don't know. The thing has been going on now for over 100 years. It's a tradition with many Minnesota families to attend, and multiple generations have gone. That tradition may not exist in some ethnic communities, of which there are very many in the Twin Cities area. I don't know. I do know that the enormous crowds that are usually on the grounds look pretty white. Here's a couple of typical views. This is what you see as you walk down the streets on the fairgrounds. Everywhere on the fairgrounds. All 12 days. It's a mob:

Never been there despite being a lifelong Twin Cities resident. I have a very difficult time with big crowds, especially packed cheek-by-jowl like at the Fair. Too overwhelming for me.

And it's like that all the time, really. There's no way not to be in a crowd like that. I go mainly because my wife likes to go. So, if crowds aren't your thing, you might want to skip it. I've never seen it when it wasn't that crowded on the main streets.

and make claims of racism where it is quite possible that it does not exist instead of getting their message out to the public.

They have been offered exhibitor space and so far, to the best of my knowledge, they have not accepted.