"Uncomfortable Minnesotans: Embracing Confrontation" Minnesotans notoriously don 't like confrontation. We like to politely ignore offensive opinions, and prefer suffering in silence to speaking up and creating a potentially awkward situation. Especially in my private, Catholic school, where most students ' families have lived in Saint Paul since its founding, this culture of "politeness" is deeply ingrained in the community. This kind of culture has a major drawback: offensive language and discriminatory treatment often goes by unchallenged, and swept away after an awkward pause. Although I tried following this unspoken rule, my personality has always clashed with this Minnesotan trait of avoiding confrontation. I 'm naturally a very