Blurring the Line between Mosque and State: Public Education in the Twin Cities

Educational institutions across America face growing pressure to accommodate the religious practices of Muslim students. One of the biggest hot spots in this respect may seem unlikely—the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in America’s heartland. In the 1990s, church relief groups began bringing Muslim refugees to Minnesota from war-torn Somalia. Today, the state is home to America’s largest Somali population, which numbers approximately 70,000.1

Many of these new residents have integrated successfully. But friction and controversy have erupted as well, sometimes drawing national attention. For example, in 2006, Somali taxi drivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport—who comprise about three-quarters of all the airport’s cabbies—refused to transport passengers carrying alcohol, on grounds that Islamic law prohibits this. The Metropolitan Airports Commission proposed to allow Muslim drivers to install unique taxi “top lights” to signal their unwillingness to