Small weekly newspaper praised for standing with immigrants

PELICAN RAPIDS, Minn. – A small weekly newspaper in western Minnesota is receiving praise for a column that took a tongue-in-cheek approach to stand up for diversity.

Last month, the Pelican Rapids Press posted high school graduation pictures on its Facebook page, including pictures of Somali students. After one Facebook commenter said the newspaper was displaying “Anti-Americanism,” managing editor Louis Hoglund used the pen to fight back.

In a June 12 column, Hoglund sarcastically declared his paper was “Anti-American .”

Hoglund invited the Facebook commenter to write a letter to the editor, and to attend a multicultural festival which he said “promises to be a shameless show of unpatriotic pageantry — a visual spectacle sure to reinforce what it means to be American.”

More than 100 people commented on Hoglund’s column. One person said it was a “fantastic response to hate.”