How should Mayor Hodges address disparity in Minneapolis?

When Mayor Betsy Hodges and the City Council get down to business this year, they promise that racial equality will be on the agenda, writes MPR News reporter Curtis Gilbert.

The city's need to narrow wide disparities between white residents and minority communities — in education, employment, health and other areas — was a recurring theme as the city swore in a diverse new City Council on Monday.

Although such gaps exist throughout the country, they are worse in the Twin Cities than just about anywhere else, a problem that Mayor Betsy Hodges mentioned to President Barack Obama when she met with him last month.

"I told him it must be possible for white people and people of color to all thrive in one city and in one region, and that we in Minneapolis, we would be ones to do it," vowed Hodges at today's inauguration ceremony. "And I told the president of the United States, that my goal for Minneapolis is just that — to get that right."

Hodges didn't outline specific policy proposals for achieving that goal, but promised they would come later. She painted a picture of a future where north, northeast and central Minneapolis experience accelerating growth.

Today's Question: How should Mayor Hodges address disparity in Minneapolis?

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