Responding to quiz

Dear Editor:

I’m writing in response to an article on page 18 of the May 2026 edition, “Are you a bona fide St. Anthony Park resident?”

As a life-long resident of SAP, I met the criteria to be automatically “bona fide,” but I found the quiz disturbing.

My score on the quiz was only five out of 13. I imagined that someone who rents their home, didn’t grow up in north St. Anthony Park, is not white, can’t afford to shop at local businesses or lives in another area of Bugle circulation would answer “yes” to even fewer items.

The descriptions of the various scoring levels included: “If you scored zero, you are, figuratively and literally, a placeholder, but welcome to the neighborhood.” That feels like very unwelcoming language to many of our neighbors. It struck me as a not-too-subtle message: “You are probably not one of us.”

The Park Bugle circulates to about 11,000 people in four regions. In 2024 (the most recent data published by Compass MN), 33% of the people in St. Anthony Park were people of color. Sixty-one percent of the households were renter-occupied, and 35% of the households were cost-burdened. Twenty percent of households have income under $50,000 (150% of the federal poverty line).

The student bodies of St. Anthony Park Elementary and Murray Middle Schools are even more racially diverse, with even lower average income levels.

We are part of a vibrant and growing city. If we embrace that diversity, we must make the welcome explicit and avoid language that could exclude people.

I know there are many efforts to change the reputation of exclusivity that has hung over SAP for decades. I feel much hope as people all over the city navigate the tension between beloved traditions and embracing new diversity. I applaud the Bugle for reporting on many of those efforts in all of the neighborhoods it serves.

But in the future, I hope that the newspaper will be more careful to avoid language that could alienate or exclude many readers.

Karen Duke
St. Anthony Park