There's never been any doubt Governor Tim Walz is proud of his career as a high school geography teacher in Mankato. In his first speech after being sworn in Monday as Minnesota's 41st governor, he made it clear he sees education as the key to fixing the state's often glaring racial discrepancies.
"We must dedicate ourselves now that we must make Minnesota the education state for all children -- Black, white, brown, Indigenous," the Democrat told the inauguration ceremony crowd at the Fitzgerald Theater.
"It means valuing the greatest of American institutions, public education!"
Walz, who also spent 12 years in Congress and 24 years in the Minnesota National Guard, said he wants to bring a holistic approach to government services, one that recognize how interconnected the State's various missions can be. Spending more money on the front end, he asserted, saves money and improves lives in the long range.
"Putting a young child on a yellow bus to prekindergarten in St. Cloud prevents that same child later in life from riding a bus to prison in Stillwater."
The ceremony itself was a reflection of the diversity and inclusion Walz and his running mate Peggy Flanagan stressed throughout their successful campaign.
The legendary Robert Robinson sang The Star-Spangled Banner. The Minneapolis Children's Choir performed a song. And the Iron Boy Singers, a Native American group that often performs at powwows, appeared twice.
That was in part a nod to Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Ojibwe, who made history when she became the state's lieutenant governor Monday. She's not only the state's first Native American constitutional officer, but she's the highest ranking Indigenous elected executive office in the nation.
Lt. Gov. Flanagan, in her inaugural speech, looked back on her impoverished childhood in St. Louis Park.
"I was that kid with the different colored lunch ticket. We needed those free meals at school," Flanagan explained.
"Medicaid saved my life. As a kid with asthma it’s the reason I’m alive today."
She also mentioned that she's joining an office at the State Capitol that was once openly hostile to Native Americans.
"An office that oversaw horrific treatment of my ancestors. An office whose governor once declared, that our Dakota brothers and sisters, and I quote, 'Must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of Minnesota'."
She applauded now-former Gov. Mark Dayton for formally repudiating the language used in the 1860's by then-Gov. Alexander Ramsey after the war between the US Government and the Dakota people.
"Our future is bright. 'One Minnesota' is grounded in the fact people directly affected by the decisions have a seat at the table," Flanagan declared.
Three other constitutional officers, all Democrats, were also sworn in Monday. Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha and Secretary of State Steve Simon, who is beginning his second term.
Ellison made history too, as the first person of color and the first Muslim to hold the office of attorney general in Minnesota. Like Walz, Ellison spent 12 years in Congress before turning his attention to state politics.
He thanked his ex-wife Kim, who joined Ellison and their children on stage at the Fitzgerald. Kim Ellison, a Minneapolis school board member, defended her ex-husband during the campaign when an ex-girlfriend accused him of abuse.