Breaking: Court Denies Standing Rock Injunction.

Courtesy Red Warrior Camp/Facebook A three-judge panel has denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's request for an injunction that would stop work on the oil pipeline that is slated to go through treaty-protected, sacred burial sites.

Courtesy Red Warrior Camp/Facebook
A three-judge panel has denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for an injunction that would stop work on the oil pipeline that is slated to go through treaty-protected, sacred burial sites.

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II vowed to continue fighting the Dakota Access oil pipeline (DAPL) after a three-judge panel on Sunday October 9 denied the tribe’s request for an injunction that would have stopped the pipeline’s progress through treaty-protected, sacred burial grounds.

“The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not backing down from this fight,” said Archambault in a statement after the decision came down at 4 p.m. “We are guided by prayer, and we will continue to fight for our people. We will not rest until our lands, people, waters and sacred places are permanently protected from this destructive pipeline.”

In a two-page ruling, U.S. District Court judges Janice Rogers Brown, Thomas B. Griffith and Cornelia T.L. Pillard acknowledged the “narrow and stringent standard” that formed their legal parameters and noted that key permits allowing the pipeline to cross under the Missouri River are still pending. It also gave a nod to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, noting it “was intended to mediate precisely the disparate perspectives involved in a case such as this one.”

The ruling came down as Native leaders gathered in Phoenix for the 73rd Annual Convention & Marketplace of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), as members participated in a Department of Interior water consultation with tribes at the Phoenix Convention Center. There was an audible gasp of disappointment from the 150 or more attendees at the consultation as NCAI President Brian Cladoosby announced that the court had denied Standing Rock’s appeal of an initial denial on September 9.

While disappointed, Cladoosby expressed some hope for closer study of the consultation process in general.

“But they left I think a window open for our trustee the federal government to really examine the 106 process and make sure that their consultation process is adequate for projects like this one that affects tribes at this level,” he told ICTMN.

The consultation had followed a day-long National Water Summit hosted by the Intertribal Council of Arizona and the Native American Rights Fund. Presenters from federal, tribal and state organizations and agencies had shared information about current Indian water rights settlements, implementation processes, economic development and protecting tribal water quality from climate change and the impact of drought. The decision to engage tribes in consultations regarding federal processes surrounding negotiation and reviewing Indian water rights settlements and potential improvements to the process had been motivated partially by the controversy in Standing Rock, Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor told Indian Country Today Media Network.

Thousands of water protectors have gathered in camps near the Standing Rock reservation in support of keeping the DAPL away from Lake Oahe, the tribe’s source of drinking water.

“This ruling puts 17 million people who rely on the Missouri River at serious risk,” said Archambault in the statement. “And, already, the Dakota Access Pipeline has led to the desecration of our sacred sites when the company bulldozed over the burials of our Lakota and Dakota ancestors. This is not the end of this fight. We will continue to explore all lawful options to protect our people, our water, our land, and our sacred places.”

The U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies reiterated their request for a work stoppage within a 20-mile buffer zone around Lake Oahe, but with the denial of the injunction, compliance on the part of Energy Transfer Partners is once again voluntary, the Bismarck Tribune reported after the decision.

“The federal government recognizes what is at stake and has asked DAPL to halt construction,” said Archambault in the tribe’s statement. “We hope that they will comply with that request.”

“We call on Dakota Access to heed the government’s request to stand down around Lake Oahe,” added Jan Hasselman, lead attorney from Earthjustice, which is representing the tribe. “Continuing construction before the decision is made would be a tragedy given what we know about the importance of this area.”

The justices noted that other permits are still pending, and that the pipeline can’t proceed until those issues are resolved.

“But ours is not the final word,” they wrote. “A necessary easement still awaits government approval—a decision Corps’ counsel predicts is likely weeks away; meanwhile, Intervenor DAPL has rights of access to the limited portion of pipeline corridor not yet cleared—where the Tribe alleges additional historic sites are at risk. We can only hope the spirit of Section 106 may yet prevail.”

Via ICTMN. Stay woke, stay informed, help if you can. You don’t need money – signal boosting and spreading the word is more helpful than you can possibly know. A whole lot of non-Native people don’t have the slightest idea of what’s happening, even as close as Montana, which is right next door. Cops are going apeshit, breaking out all the military gear, and itching to hurt people. We need people to know what is going on, so if you can do nothing else, please, please, spread the word, spread links, get a chain of wakefulness going!

https://twitter.com/RuthHHopkins . https://twitter.com/lastrealindians . https://twitter.com/zhaabowekwe . https://twitter.com/SimonMoyaSmith . https://twitter.com/indiancountry . https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoDAPL

Columbus Didn’t Kill Us All: Taino Daca.

Amy Majagua'naru Ponce Emmy-Award winning filmmaker Alex Zacarias and Taino Daca (I Am) lead character Roberto Mukaro Borrero - Amy Majagua'naru Ponce

Amy Majagua’naru Ponce
Emmy-Award winning filmmaker Alex Zacarias and Taino Daca (I Am) lead character Roberto Mukaro Borrero – Amy Majagua’naru Ponce

Emmy-Award winning filmmaker Alex Zacarias recently spoke to ICTMN about his new documentary, Taino Daca (I Am). The 10-year project, set to be released this fall, takes on the grand challenge of revealing new truths about the history, survival and identity of the Taino people, the first indigenous contact for Christopher Columbus when he mistakenly arrived in the Caribbean.

Zacarias explains that this film has a universal story for many tribes, not just for Taino. Referring to the arrival of Christopher Columbus, he says he wants to “bring attention to that story and show that history didn’t begin in 1492, that there are thousands of years of ‘our story.’ The intent of the documentary is to bring awareness of our Taino story that we might be able to engage with government.”

The Taino have struggled to get recognition since history books have long declared them to be an extinct people. “I am enrolled as a Taino through the United Confederation of Taino People, and I have identified as Taino through the U.S. Census.”

You can read the full story of this documentary about the Taino People here, and watch the trailer below:

Full story at ICTMN.

Reuniting Turtle Island: The 2016 Journeys.

Bibi Mildred Karaira Gandia thanks her 8-year-old great niece and PDJ runner Gabby, with a necklace during the ceremony. Amy Morris.

Bibi Mildred Karaira Gandia thanks her 8-year-old great niece and PDJ runner Gabby, with a necklace during the ceremony. Amy Morris.

Every four years since 1992, indigenous communities have been spiritually reuniting the Western hemisphere by participating in The Peace and Dignity Journeys. This massive undertaking is a chain of spiritual runs that cross the continents and connect the regions of North, Central, South America and the Caribbean. The endeavor is an effort to fulfill the ancient reunion prophecy of the Eagle and Condor.

As explained in the short film Shift of the Ages, the Eagle represents the Northern hemisphere, a masculine energy, and the Condor represents the Southern hemisphere, a feminine energy. The harmony between indigenous cultures across both continents, the union of North and South, was shattered by the arrival of Europeans, who brought genocide and a decimation of the traditional ways.

Peace and Dignity runner from Kingston Jamaica, Kalaan Robert Nibonrix (Taino), formally greeting elder Chumsey Harjo (Muscogee Creek Nation) during the closing ceremony of the Eastern Red Tail Hawk route July 23, 2016. (Amy Morris)

Peace and Dignity runner from Kingston Jamaica, Kalaan Robert Nibonrix (Taino), formally greeting elder Chumsey Harjo (Muscogee Creek Nation) during the closing ceremony of the Eastern Red Tail Hawk route July 23, 2016. (Amy Morris)

One interpretation of the prophecy from the Peruvian shaman Lauro Hinostroza states that for 500 years, beginning around the 16th century, the Eagle would dominate. This timeframe coincides with the onset of colonization and the profound shift in the way indigenous cultures functioned between the continents and among their own communities.

The prediction says that at the end of the 500 year cycle, an opportunity would come forth for Eagle and Condor to unite again and begin to restore balance to the world.

[Read more…]

NYC: Indigenous Peoples Celebration.

NY Indigenous Peoples Celebration, October 10 - www.redhawkcouncil.org

NY Indigenous Peoples Celebration, October 10 – www.redhawkcouncil.org

On October 10th 2016, 9 Indigenous organizations in New York City will again unify to bring awareness of Indigenous Peoples Day, traditionally celebrated on Columbus Day. The groups involved are the American Indian Community House, Redhawk Native American Arts Council, United Federation of Taino People, Kechiwa Nation, Halawai, Naoiwi, East Coast Two Spirit Society and Safe Harbors Indigenous Collective.

“These organizations hope to help New York City follow in the footsteps of Multnomah County, Oregon, St. Paul, Minnesota; Olympia, Washington; Traverse City, Michigan, Albuquerque and Sandoval County, and New Mexico who have all replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day,”  said organizer Cliff Matias.

“These cities and the Indigenous populations of United States are banding together to call on Americans to re-thinking who and what Columbus Day symbolizes to Indigenous people to the Americas.”

“For 2016 we once again will be rethinking Columbus Day with a focus on Indigenous people, their beautiful cultures and traditions. This free day will begin at Monday Morning with a 7am sunrise ceremony honoring the Native people around the world who have endured and survived.   Leaders, elders and medicine people from across North America, the Caribbean, Polynesian Islands and South America will sing, pray, and share their cultural traditions with guests overlooking the East River in Harlem New York. “

“The day will continue with a celebration of spoken word, music, traditional performing artists, guest speakers and contemporary performances. Where there will also be artists sharing and selling traditional works, crafts and jewelry.”

Full story here.

A Rapist, A Murderer, Deserves No Holiday.

Abolish Columbus Day. Courtesy American Indian Movement Colorado.

Abolish Columbus Day. Courtesy American Indian Movement Colorado.

[…] In my lobbying, thus far, only one person has refused to listen and acknowledge Columbus Day was harmful.

This person told me he didn’t believe in Columbus and the day didn’t exist in his world because he chose to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day instead.

“Here in Colorado,” I replied, “Columbus Day is still an issue. That holiday started here and it needs to be abolished here.”

I explained further the reason this holiday needed to be abolished – that we can no longer celebrate colonial legacies. The man continued to refuse to listen to what I was saying, and I felt like he’d argue forever, so I simply moved on.

[Read more…]

The why of the “holiday”.

Christopher Columbus. Sebastiano del Piombo/Metropolitan Museum of Art/Wikipedia.

Christopher Columbus. Sebastiano del Piombo/Metropolitan Museum of Art/Wikipedia.

“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” is the poem many elementary schoolchildren learn, but how did a man who stole, raped, enslaved, and never even landed on Turtle Island get his own holiday?

According to History.com and the Library of Congress, the first celebration of Columbus Day took place on the 300th anniversary of his first voyage on October 12 1792, when New York’s Columbian Order—also known as the Society of St. Tammany—held an event to commemorate the anniversary of Columbus’s landing. After that, various celebrations around the country started popping up to honor Columbus’s Italian and Catholic heritage. Then, on the 400th anniversary of his landing, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation encouraging people to “cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life.”

The proclamation went on to call Columbus a “pioneer of progress and enlightenment,” and said, “Let the national flag float over every schoolhouse in the country and the exercises be such as shall impress upon our youth the patriotic duties of American citizenship.”

[Read more…]

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

Apache Social Dancer Guy Narocomy (Comanche, Cuddo, Seminole, Chirichan, Lippan Apache) dances at the Apache puberty rites. (Photo by Kerri Cottle)

Apache Social Dancer Guy Narocomy (Comanche, Cuddo, Seminole, Chirichan, Lippan Apache) dances at the Apache puberty rites. (Photo by Kerri Cottle)

Today is a day to celebrate Indigenous People, all over the world, not a day to wallow in memories of genocide and Christendom deciding they had a right to everything. So today, take the time to learn a little about indigenous people, their history, their ideas, their cultures, their arts, the current fights they might be engaged in to protect the earth. If you live near Indigenous people, think about taking time to reach out.

And there’s all day today to write a letter to Columbus.

Photo from ICTMN.

For Indigenous Peoples Day, Write to Columbus.

Tomahawk Greyeyes/YouTube Deezbaa Andrea O’hare reads a letter to Columbus written by Corrina Gould. Tell Columbus how you feel in your own letter.

Tomahawk Greyeyes/YouTube
Deezbaa Andrea O’hare reads a letter to Columbus written by Corrina Gould. Tell Columbus how you feel in your own letter.

Have something you want to tell Christopher Columbus and think there is no way to get it off your chest? Tomahawk Greyeyes, Navajo, has just the thing, an artivist project that calls for letters to Columbus on Indigenous Peoples Day.

The Letters to Columbus will be gathered and some will be shared with the world online and some will be read and performed on YouTube.

Greyeyes calls this a “socially engaged art project about expressing the rage that comes from colonization.” He launched the project on October 12, 2015, gathered letters and took them to read aloud at the Columbus statue that faces the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco.

“You [Columbus] are being charged with genocide, ethnocide, colonization, slavery, rape of people and lands, destruction of the Mother Earth, stealing, maiming, and continued perpetration of lies,” reads Corrina Gould’s (Karkin and Chochoenyo Ohlone) letter to Columbus. “When found guilty your name will be stricken from all histories as a hero.”

Here the full letter, performed by Deezbaa Andrea O’hare, Navajo, below:

One-page letters are due by October 10, and can be submitted to letterstocolumbus@gmail.com.

Via ICTMN.

Color Wars.

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According to the Missoulian, the display came during the school’s homecoming events last week. Polson allowed students to dress up according to themes from Sept. 26 to Sept. 30

The theme “Color Wars” came Friday.

A long-standing name for the event, “Color Wars” involved the PHS Student Board of Governors assigning each grade level a color. Then, the classes compete to see how many people wear the designated hue that day.

This year, seniors wore black, juniors wore white, sophomores donned blue and freshmen sported green.

The class with the most participants wins the contest.

A pair of white high school students in Montana proved racism is alive and well when images circulated of them wearing t-shirts with “White Pride” on them.

In photos posted on Facebook, a male student and a female student – both unidentified juniors at Polson High School – wore white shirts that both read “Trump 2016” and had the white supremacist slogan.

The only difference between the students’ shirts was the male wore a tank top that said “redneck” with a Confederate flag on the front. The female’s t-shirt read “White Power.”

The white pride display made it onto social media, and a number of people weren’t terribly impressed or happy about it.

In response, Polson Superintendent Rex Weltz told the Missoulian the school’s administrators ordered the offending pupils to their office. Once they became aware of the juniors’ clothing, officials told the students to change.

In a statement, Weltz called it an “inexcusable incident involving homecoming activities.” He added the school district “will take appropriate action based on our policies and procedures, which may include discipline for the individual students.”

According to the New York Daily News, the school ultimately gave the students a temporary suspension.

In reaction to the controversy, Montana’s American Civil Liberties Union released a statement.

“While all students have First Amendment rights, schools have the authority and the responsibility to prohibit speech that is harmful to other students,” it read in part. “The Confederate flag and slogan ‘White Power’ are symbols of hate and intolerance. This incident sadly reflects how we are failing our children in teaching them mutual tolerance and respect for those of different backgrounds.”

:Cough: Hey, UND, hear that? I want to add a different view here. What these two students did was not only wrong, it was particularly hateful as Polson High School is on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and is 64% white.

photo by Derek Brouwer. Demonstrators rallied outside the Polson High School homecoming football game and chanted “No more hate!” to protest a racist display at the school the previous day.

photo by Derek Brouwer Demonstrators rallied outside the Polson High School homecoming football game and chanted “No more hate!” to protest a racist display at the school the previous day.

And just to point to the power of white obliviousness once again, a bit from that article:

Caitlin Borgmann, executive director of ACLU Montana, says peaceful demonstrations like the one outside the football game are an important way to push the community to have difficult conversations about race, including the difference between “White Pride” slogans and expressions of solidarity with communities of color. The ACLU issued a statement in response to the images noting that it intends to investigate the incident as well as the school district’s policies and practices for addressing racial discrimination.

The conversations were taking place even before the football game ended. During the demonstration, Monroe compared the Polson activism with the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota that have drawn thousands in recent weeks. Two young girls, both white, looked on through the chain-link fence.

“What’s Standing Rock?” one of them asked.

Yeah. I’m gonna go paint.

Montana High School Students in ‘White Pride’ T-Shirts Shatter Racism Will Die Out Theory.

“Color Wars” day turns controversial at Polson High School.

Racism on the Rez.

Standing Rock (Inyan Woslata).

Standing Rock Joins the World’s Indigenous Fighting for Land and Life.

 

Frank Cooper and Kaya Littleturtle of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina greet Sami representatives from Norway, Inger Biret, Kvernmo Gaup, and Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska on Friday. Desiree Kane.

Frank Cooper and Kaya Littleturtle of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina greet Sami representatives from Norway, Inger Biret, Kvernmo Gaup, and Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska on Friday. Desiree Kane.

From Paris to Standing Rock It’s the Climate Choices Ahead.

 

President Barack Obama congratulates Senior Advisor Brian Deese on the first day of the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, in the Oval Office, Oct. 5, 2016. Deese worked with Secretary of State John Kerry and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to make the agreement possible. Chief of Staff Denis McDonough watches at left. Pete Souza/White House.

President Barack Obama congratulates Senior Advisor Brian Deese on the first day of the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, in the Oval Office, Oct. 5, 2016. Deese worked with Secretary of State John Kerry and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to make the agreement possible. Chief of Staff Denis McDonough watches at left. Pete Souza/White House.

Militarization and Mistaken Identity: Police Crack Down on DAPL Protectors.

 

An increasingly militarized police presence is cracking down via video and other technology to identify and arrest water protectors at Dakota Access pipeline construction sites—even when they're not present. Mary Annette Pember.

An increasingly militarized police presence is cracking down via video and other technology to identify and arrest water protectors at Dakota Access pipeline construction sites—even when they’re not present. Mary Annette Pember.

Dalrymple has managed to “borrow” up to 6 million dollars from a state owned bank, to feed police to protect people from the scary Indians and allies.  And Kirchmeier is planning to call on cops in Laramie, Wyoming, to come here and “help”.  I’m furious and disgusted.

Tribal Leaders Speak at DC #NoDAPL Rally.

 

All via ICTMN.

It’s ‘the chinks in our armor that give us the courage’.

Zach Wood (James Miotto).

Zach Wood (James Miotto).

Zach Wood, a student at Columbia University, NY, has an excellent and poignant essay published in The Washington Post. While I highly recommend reading the essay, I do not recommend the same for the comments. I was stupid enough to click on them, and now find myself, once again, infuriated at the oblivious willful ignorance of white assholes.

As a black student from a disadvantaged background who has attended predominantly white schools since fourth grade, I’m accustomed to feeling keenly aware of aspects of my experience that are unfamiliar to most of my peers.

I’ve often thought to myself that if my peers knew about some of the scarier experiences I’ve had — like when, in fourth grade, my mom’s husband was shot at while chasing a burglar out of the house — they’d see me differently. I feared that if my peers knew more about some of the obstacles I’ve faced, they would make negative assumptions about my family or my upbringing.

I’d inferred that what many of my peers liked and respected about me was my character, my intellect and what I contributed to the school community, not the personal details about my life that caused me anxiety whenever a friend’s parents would ask me questions at their dinner table about what part of the city I lived in, or my parent’s levels of education, occupations and marital status.

While most of the questions were genuine, they sometimes felt invasive and judgmental, as if being black and intellectually driven and not coming from a family of means made me more interesting, if not harder to understand. So I mastered crafting my answers carefully, so as to satisfy their curiosity just enough to preclude further questioning and yet elude anything that might ignite what I perceived to be the subtle contours of their inner feelings about black people.

Though my circumstances changed considerably going from high school to college, I still felt a fear of judgment when probed with personal questions in casual conversation.

We can caution against it and resist it, but most of us, in some measure, naturally worry about the perceptions of others.

I certainly worried and was taken aback when asked not long ago, “Is the reason you care about poverty so much because you’ve lived in it?”

While most people who think that would not say it, it is precisely those kind of judgments that have kept me from saying more about my background, even when doing so may have lent insight or an alternative view to the perspective of others.

Click on over for the full essay.

Field Day with My Little Assholes.

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A white teacher in Maryland faced backlash after she posted photos of Black children used for humor and called them a degrading name.

In images sent to Atlanta Black Star from an anonymous source, Kelly Forostiak uses her students as props on Instagram. Her page – which is no longer available – showed she is a teacher at Deer Park Elementary in Maryland.

According to the source, Forostiak graduated from Urbana High School in Ijamsville, Maryland in 2010. Below, the teacher jokingly calls her fifth-grade students “little a——- that I somehow still love.”

There’s a whole lot more at the article, including many of the various responses from people. For me, this one summed up best:

teacher-response-anger-1

These comments man…Black adults justifying a white woman calling black children assholes…this is why we can’t win. We won’t even defend our children. I don’t know of any other race of people that would stand for their children being called assholes by their teachers on social media! Tf is wrong with us? “Some of them probably as bad as fuck tho” “some kids are assholes”…OKAY AND I WONDER WHERE THEY GOT IT FROM. Kids don’t pick up bad behavior and attitudes from nowhere. Gtfoh…

I’d be willing to bet there isn’t a parent alive, or any adult who works with children who has not had at least one “little asshole” thought moment, or as Stephen King once said, dark fantasies about crucifying their kids to the walls, but you don’t say that stuff out loud to the children. I will not defend any adult who says such utter isht to children, and apparently, everyone thought the costumes and racist captions weren’t even much worth mentioning.

Regardless of the social media divide, The Baltimore Sun reported Forostiak’s expletive caused her to face disciplinary action. Baltimore County schools spokesperson Mychael Dickerson told the newspaper Forostiak regretted posting the image and making the comments. Dickerson declined to detail exactly what punishment the teacher will face. However, he noted Forostiak is currently employed in the school system and accepts her discipline.

I rather expect that means a slap on the wrist, a la “FFS, don’t be a moron on social media!”

Full story at Atlanta Black Star.

UND: Racism Doesn’t Violate Code of Conduct.

More University of North Dakota students wear blackface (Photo: Facebook).

More University of North Dakota students wear blackface (Photo: Facebook).

Remember the “Locked the Black Bitch Out” students, and the Blackface students? It has been decided by UND that neither of these acts of explicit racism violate the UND code of student life because…constitution. Yep. It’s that pesky 1st amendment preventing the university administrators from doing a gosh darn thing about the casual and uncaring racism demonstrated by students. They can’t do anything at all, oh no, their hands are tied.

The two racially charged photos went viral and led to black student leaders at UND holding a rally Friday to share their experiences with racism and ask for the university to adopt a zero-tolerance policy when matters, such as the two photos, come up. After the rally, some of the organizers met with UND President Mark Kennedy to talk about their concerns about the campus environment.

In a letter to the campus community Wednesday, Kennedy condemned the two photos, but said a zero-tolerance policy is not possible for UND’s campus.

“While I appreciate the desire for such a policy, it is unachievable under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” Kennedy wrote. “The challenge we all face is to find the balance between wanting to eliminate expressions of racism and bigotry and supporting the free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. If we value freedom of speech, we must acknowledge that some may find the expressions of others unwelcome, painful, or even, offensive. We can, however, speak out and condemn such expressions, and we can work to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment.”

A more welcoming and inclusive environment? Just how are you going to do that when you’ve effectively given students a green light to be bigoted assholes? How on earth could any student of colour feel comfortable or even begin to trust people in that environment? You’re making a lot of soothing noises, but actions speak louder, and your actions? You didn’t take any. Instead, you chose the craven route of hiding behind the 1st amendment, and while doing that, you demonstrated a complete lack of understanding that amendment. All speech is not protected, Mr. Kennedy, and a good deal of speech is not considered to be something which can be freely spouted. We’re also not talking about just speech here, Mr. Kennedy. This is a shameful display of cowardice, and blatant pandering to white privilege.

Kennedy announced last week that the school will form a diversity advisory council to provide recommendations for improving the campus climate on issues of diversity and inclusion.

The president tapped Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Sandra Mitchell to lead the process of selecting no more than 12 individuals to serve on the council.

The council will review the university’s existing diversity and inclusion practices and programs and identify the best practices to enhance the university’s understanding of diversity and inclusion in the higher education setting, Kennedy wrote.

“I want to make sure we have courses that challenge students to consider alternative perspectives and which will help students better understand how effectively engaging those with diverse backgrounds is essential for their future success,” Kennedy wrote.

Ah. So basically, Mr. Kennedy, what you want is to teach your white bigots the when and where it’s okay to let your bigotry ring, lest they impede those shiny futures. *Spits*

Via Grand Forks Herald.