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HAVRE - Mia LameBull sat petrified through her 2 p.m. class at Montana State University Northern, so afraid of what she just heard that she couldn't focus on anything else.

She'd arrived to class a bit early on April 10 and was settling into her seat as students in front of her talked about an email sent by a professor hours earlier. The email delivered a strong message from a deeply concerned educator, whose student came to him that morning to report racist remarks made by someone departing a Native American studies class.

Now as her afternoon class was about to start, LameBull, who is Native, overheard two white students discussing the issue. One made a comment so hateful it rendered her frozen.

"(The student's) response was 'Oh, I don't know, in my opinion we should just kill them all anyways. I should bring a sign to school that says kill them all."

LameBull thought about packing up her books and walking out, but she was too scared. She sat through the class, the whole time regretting not saying anything.

"That wasn't just a dumb comment, that was his opinion. And then he laughed after that. He laughed about that. I'm obviously Native American. That girl that was sitting next to him was obviously Native American. He felt strong enough to say those words in front of the two of us."

Northern sits about 15 miles north of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, where LameBull grew up, and 45 miles from the Fort Belknap Reservation to the east. Enrollment numbers from the fall show 15 percent of students are Native, the highest percentage in the Montana University System and almost double that of the next-closest school.

Racism is something that's been on Northern's campus for decades but is just now being discussed, some students and faculty say. Events this year on campus have been a hammer pounding away at a rusted old lock until it starts to give. But LameBull said the noise is falling on deaf ears of the university's administration, which only furthers the divide between Natives and whites.

Citing privacy rules, Northern has not said much about the events in April, but the school's university relations director confirmed a student was removed from classes after "a series of statements." The student was still allowed to access the gym and play on the football team and, upon an invitation from the dean of students, moved into the dean's home.

Several students and faculty who either witnessed the comments being made or had comments reported to them confirmed the nature of the remarks. The first statement by the student overheard after the morning class did not advocate genocide outright, but said if Natives had been wiped out, a class about their history would not be necessary. Then the same student made the remarks heard by LameBull and others in the afternoon class.

In an immediate response to the comments, Dean of Students Steve Wise sent out a vague and confusing email. It mentioned statements made by a student that caused some to fear for their safety. It called the speech "threatening," but not racist.

To LameBull, the email was dismissive of her concerns about her safety and an environment on campus she says is racist.

"When you think about the statistics of school shootings, they all stem from comments like that. They had said something about that before and they're always targeting a race, a group of people. And for the school to not take that seriously?"

At the time of an initial report in The Billings Gazette, the school's spokesman Jim Potter called the issue "a nothing thing" and said a campus ban was a "gracious step" from both the student and dean. Potter later apologized, telling the Havre Daily News that "it was my intent not to insinuate that the situation was not significant or serious, only to clarify that the situation was not considered dangerous. It is my hope that everyone can forgive me."

Chancellor Greg Kegel also sent a statement to The Gazette and Havre Daily News saying: "Anytime a student feels threatened, we take these concerns seriously. MSU-Northern does not tolerate hate speech, slurs, bullying or harassment of any kind. We will be reviewing our actions with particular attention to how we communicated."

School response criticized

The lack of initial response by administration is "just another level of indigenous erasure," said assistant professor of Native American studies Paul McKenzie-Jones. He was the teacher who sent out an email after the student was heard making the first racist remark.

"Taking it down to the core of the subject matter, it's invoking genocide. That is absolutely unforgivable. And it's been very minimized to seem like it's a very inconsequential event."

McKenzie-Jones emphasized his statements represent only his own opinions and not that of the campus, administration or anyone else affiliated with the school.

In a response emailed to the Lee State Bureau on Friday afternoon, Northern said it has worked hard to develop a campus culture that encourages students to voice their concerns and is "formulating a plan to thoroughly discuss issues of diversity campuswide when students return for fall semester." A reporter attempted to speak to the chancellor on campus Wednesday but he was in Bozeman.

Since the April event, the statement says, administration has reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service, which can provide mediators to help resolve conflicts related to race.

There was also an event in November in which a Native man was arrested for disorderly conduct at a Student Senate meeting. The arrest was made by an undercover police officer, who was there at request of school administration. Many have called the presence of the officer a sign of racism, questioning why the school felt it was necessary.

At the meeting, the Senate voted to not support protests near the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Members of the Sweetgrass Society, a campus club to help Native students connect with the school and Havre community, also spoke about their frustrations that a step they had painted on the campus "Hello Walk" that included the message "#NoDAPL" in opposition to the pipeline, was painted over.

The statement emailed Friday from Northern said chancellor has also reached out to tribal leaders, as well as tribal college presidents, and has plans to visit each tribal community over the coming year. The conversations have been "collegial," according to the statement.

Faculty also proposed working with Hopa Mountain, a Bozeman nonprofit that works with rural and tribal leaders on education issues. The school is considering a workshop over the summer for faculty and staff, which could expand to student programming in the fall.

The Office of Diversity Awareness and Multicultural programs is also putting an emphasis on civil discourse, planning six events with topics that could include prejudice, macro and micro aggression, stereotyping, bystander intervention and conflict resolution.

The statement pointed to the Little River Institute, which was launched with a $2 million grant from the federal Department of Education last year. The Institute provides access to "pathfinders" who provide tutoring services to all students, with a special emphasis on meeting the needs of Northern's Native American students.

The chancellor's office has also reached out to the Sweetgrass Society, which asked that the chancellor work through the ACLU of Montana, which the office has been in communication with.

The school wants to "work with the Sweetgrass Society to thoroughly hear its members' concerns and proposed solutions. This process is ongoing."

On Friday, McKenzie-Jones, English Professor John Snider, adjunct professor Yvonne Tiger, Kegel, Wise and College of Education, Arts and Sciences Dean Carol Reifschneider met to discuss the issue.

Snider, who also said his statements reflect his opinions and not the school's, described the meeting as "positive."

While a specific plan was not put forward, he characterized the meeting as a good first step. "It was a productive meeting where points of view were exchanged and strategies were being put forward."

Snider also said the faculty of the Arts and Science College met Thursday and suggested forming a task force to do an audit of the racial atmosphere on campus, something else he called a positive step.

Still, LameBull said the initial response from the administration further segregated students and that there wasn't a schoolwide dialogue before the end of the spring semester. Graduation was Saturday.

Several white students interviewed were uncomfortable being quoted. They said the university's initial response caused confusion, but also seemed to set the tone that it was not something to worry about going forward.

For LameBull, the issue has consumed her life at the end of the school year when she'd rather have been focusing on finals.

'There's a lot of stereotypes'

Fellow student and Sweetgrass member Amy Murdoch's skin is light enough that people can't tell she's Native, she said, and that can lead to telling interactions. People treat her differently "until I talk, and then they'll be like 'Oh, where are you from?'"

When she answers "Fort Belknap," people tend to walk away and stop engaging with her, she said.

Native students are mostly friends with each other, LameBull said.

"It just feels like nobody would want to sit by me because of who I was. That's the type of vibe I've always had on campus. If I really wanted to I could walk across campus and be invisible."

She's been in classrooms that are full except the seats around her. "Or they'll move after I sit down. It just kills people to sit next to me."

Female students have told her they assumed she'd act a certain way because she's Native. "They're thinking I'm a bad, mean person just because I'm an Indian woman. I've heard that from a couple of different white girls. Like, 'I always thought that you guys were mean and would beat me up.'"

"Stereotypes," Murdoch sums it up succinctly. "There's a lot of stereotypes."

Aaniiih Nakoda College, the tribal college on Fort Belknap, doesn't discourage students from transferring to Northern, but it doesn't encourage them, either.

"If they ask us about what we think of the school and how they would fare, we tell them what they might encounter," said Sean Chandler, director of American Indian Studies and professor at the school.

"Over the years we've gotten reports back from our students that things were said in various classes that made them feel unwelcome or made them feel inferior."

Chandler said he hears about racism or racist comments from other schools as well, but it is more common at Northern. "It does seem a little more frequent over there at Northern from what students tell me."

Between 200-300 students attend Aaniiih Nakoda College, which offers associate degrees and vocational training. Students are encouraged to go on and get bachelor's, master's and doctorates elsewhere.

The school has taken measures to accommodate students who don't feel comfortable at Northern, including starting its own nursing program. "A lot of students, they want to stay close to home. But if our students aren't going to be welcomed there we need to take measures to grow here."

Chandler also said the college has struggled to build relationships with Northern.

As an example, Chandler described a time where someone from Northern called his college to question if he was qualified to teach a Native American studies course a student was trying to transfer credits for. Chandler holds a Master's degree in Native American Studies and a Ed.D in Educational Leadership and is a part of the Aaniinen Tribe and an enrolled Gros Ventre tribal member.

McKenzie-Jones and Snider both say part of any solution is bringing more Native faculty and staff to Northern. They point to highly qualified resources that are available locally, such as professors like Chandler.

"You have this amazing wealth of knowledge and talent and it's right here. We need to be tapping into that. That's one of the ways you start breaking down these stereotypes."

McKenzie-Jones' own family has dealt with those stereotypes first-hand. When they first moved to town, his wife Yvonne Tiger, who is Native and an adjunct professor, said someone approached her white husband and told him not to go to Walmart on certain days of the month because that's when Natives go "to spend their government checks."

"Nothing can change," McKenzie-Jones said, "until those stereotypes are talked about and dispelled."

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Racism is a common problem at MSU Northern, students say

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HAVRE - Mia LameBull sat petrified through her 2 p.m. class at Montana State University Northern, so afraid of what she just heard that she couldn't focus on anything else. She'd arrived to class a bit early on April 10 and was settling into her seat as students in front of her talked about an email sent by a professor hours earlier.

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This week marks the 63rd anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court case that declared segregated schools, even if they had similar resources, were "inherently" unequal because separating children by race caused serious adverse effects. Shockingly, more than six decades later, New York City has the most racially divided schools in the country. My white Jewish children attend one of them.

When it came time to send my oldest son to kindergarten, I noticed that most of our neighbors didn't send their kids to our zoned public school, PS 282, in my Park Slope, Brooklyn community, a school that is majority black and Hispanic with a high proportion of low income families attending. The school a few blocks down is the coveted PS 321, a predominantly white well-resourced school, which performs very well in in state tests. Only 15% of New York City's public school students are white, but you'd never know it walking through PS 321; the school's racial makeup is the exact opposite. Though PS 282 is full of caring educators, the school, like many minority schools in the city and throughout the country, is short on resources and while our test scores continue to improve, they are not as strong as 321. In 2015, fewer than a third of students passed state exams. Despite the scores, we chose the latter.

I understand the parental instinct to want our children to attend a "good school," a term usually synonymous with white, and upper-middle class student bodies. When racial tensions exploded in our hometown of Detroit, Michigan, the majority of families like mine moved to the suburbs, but the white flight institutionalized and hardened existing racial and economic divisions and the city's schools suffered as a result.

Having lived in two of the most segregated cities in the country, I understand that much of our lack of integration is due to structural racism and decades of housing discrimination. However, I also recognize that individual parents, especially white and middle-class families, have the power to disrupt this cycle. As the Executive Director of Avodah, a Jewish nonprofit that works to eradicate poverty across the U.S., I've seen first hand that school integration can play an important role in ending the cycle of poverty for many of our youngest citizens of our country.

Studies show that black adults who attended integrated schools are less likely to be poor, suffer health problems, are more likely to go to college, live in integrated neighborhoods, enjoy longer lives - and those benefits are passed down to their children. However, integration benefits white and middle-class students too; as black student test scores rise, so do white ones. If we want to strengthen our educational system as a whole, those of us who come from privilege need to be serious about making integration a priority in our schools. It's not always a comfortable thing to be the only white parents in a classroom - but knowing that in 2017, one's skin color, zip code, or income, can determine a child's future isn't comfortable either.
A More Inclusive City
Our city is the most diverse in the world, yet it is the norm for our children to be in a school where nearly everyone looks, speaks and lives as they do. There is a real loss in homogeneous classes. Studies show that as early age five, children internalize racist perceptions, and recognize differential treatment of different racial groups. However, children who attend diverse schools are less likely to be prejudiced. Both of my sons are one of only a handful of white children in their classes. I don't know if this is something they recognize, but I know they love their school, their friends, their teachers, and that they are succeeding.

As a religious minority, we must think about how integration helped us as Jews. Fifty years ago, it was unheard of to have days off for Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur, but today our children have the opportunity to celebrate and learn about Jewish, Christian, and Muslim holidays, and it has only enriched my children's experiences to learn about and appreciate other cultures.

In today's political climate, it feels more crucial than ever for our children to know, learn from and listen to peers of different backgrounds. Jewish cemeteries and mosques are being vandalized. Black and Latino children are being shot by police and more and more rights are being denied to LGBTQ folk. Just days ago, torch-wielding white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Va., a scene that harkened back to the days of lynchings. Americans need to get to know each other, build relationships and speak up for one another. Social justice activist and lawyer Bryan Stevenson advocates for the power of proximity. "You can't understand most of the important things from a distance. You have to get close," he says. Whether that proximity is made on the playground, during PTA fundraisers or in class, integration gives us the power to combat bigotry.
Listening to Our Neighbors
When I put my kids to bed, it's my family's nightly ritual to say the Shma prayer together. Shma means listen - and listening feels so timely today. When I envision America's future and the values we're trying to create, I want our children to listen to one another and have a better sense of people's lives so that they can break out of this polarization and create a stronger, more united nation. By the time my elementary school-aged children are adults, the U.S. will be majority people of color; learning to engage with those who are different than ourselves is an essential life skill.

I am under no illusion that school integration is easy or straightforward. But in order to create the kind of society and world that we wish to live in, we have an obligation to lean into our values. It will take work and partnership to transform a segregated and vastly unequal school system. But I believe deeply in working toward this vision; in my case that means a Brooklyn school that looks like Brooklyn. We have a choice to accept segregation or to put our children in schools whose student bodies are reflective of the city we live in. In doing so, it is my hope that my children will be more resilient, more motivated to pursue justice and better equipped to create the kind of world in which we wish to live.
Cheryl Cook is the Executive Director of Avodah.

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Why I'm Sending My Jewish Children To A School With Few White Students

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This week marks the 63rd anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court case that declared segregated schools, even if they had similar resources, were "inherently" unequal because separating children by race caused serious adverse effects. Shockingly, more than six decades later, New York City has the most racially divided schools in the country.

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To the Editor:

I write today following yet another racist event within our school district this past week. An 8th grade student from John Witherspoon Middle School was caught by his parent after indulging in "pot brownies" with friends. When questioned about where they got the illegal substance, the young man without hesitation named a black boy he goes to school with. A phone call from the parent alerted the black young man's mother. The black student had nothing to do with the event at all and texted the young man who named him asking him why. His answer was "_______ told me to, he said they wouldn't ask any questions bc ur black".

Princeton High School senior Jamaica Ponder wrote a blog post on the situation and stated "Princeton, listen to me, we have a race problem." She is unequivocally correct!

In April of last year, we were shocked with the revelation that some of our high school students thought playing a game called Jews vs. Nazis was an acceptable pastime. Just this past March we were blindsided by a young woman in the high school posting on Snapchat "I'm on the bus with a bunch of n-- help." Now this latest event in our middle school. My question to my fellow Princetonians is what is going on?

In a town of over 30,000 people with a median household income of $114,645, where 78% are college graduates and 37% work in education, a town where we have always prided ourselves on and welcomed a very eclectic mix, where exactly have we lost our way?

I read the statement Superintendent Cochrane put out and thought his message was a good one, quickly exonerating the innocent black young man and saying the other children that lied had consequences imposed upon them. What still concerns me though is the collective, district wide follow through. Words on paper is a good first step, but completely useless if not put to constant use.

Racism in our schools and our town is not to be tolerated. Allowing our youth to use hateful words or actions is shameful and appalling. And not taking a hard stand as a district and a town to eradicate this behavior is completely unacceptable.

We, as parents, should know our job is to raise our children to be strong, capable and evolved. That includes raising them to be kind, to be tolerant, to be ready to be a productive adult able to move about in a world made up of many different shades, languages, religions and cultures.

On Mr. Cochrane's page on the Princeton Public Schools website part of his message reads: "Our goal with diversity will be threefold: 1) to celebrate the cultural richness of our community, 2) to expand our outreach to ensure all families feel comfortable accessing the resources of our school system, and 3) to build our institutional and individual responsiveness to students and families from a variety of racial, religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds."

I caution the district and the members of our community to heed those words and practice them daily, in actions and policies. We need to take a hard stance on racism to eradicate it. To have our children and fellow citizens realize it will NEVER be accepted. I beseech each and every one of us to look deep within ourselves to be sure we are part of the solution - not the problem. We, as adults, have an example to set - at home, at work, at school, on the practice field, in every facet of our daily lives. I truly hope we do not continue to fail!

Kelly Ryan

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To the Editor: I write today following yet another racist event within our school district this past week. An 8th grade student from John Witherspoon Middle School was caught by his parent after indulging in "pot brownies" with friends. When questioned about where they got the illegal substance, the young man without hesitation named a [...]

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Contributing Writer

An Alabama judge has given a predominately white town the right to remove itself from the current racially mixed school system to create their own that would most likely result in all-white schools. To make matter worse: Judge Madeline Haikala acknowledged that the race was a factor behind why the residents wanting to split, but still ruled in their favor anyway.

Yes y'all: It's really 2017.

According to NBC News, the Birmingham suburb of Gardendale is 88 percent white and is located in Jefferson County, which is roughly 53 percent white and 42 percent African-American. In recent years, most of Birmingham's affluent suburbs have left the struggling Jefferson County Schools' system to form smaller districts, but this is the first time a judge has examined how race and racism play a factor in this redistricting, wrote the Washington Post.

African-American parents with students in Gardendale schools were vocal about how this case was nothing more than white parents just wanted to get rid of Black students. And even the judge agreed. In her 190-page ruling, Haikala, who was appointed by former President Obama, pointed to a Facebook group with racist messages about the racially mixed schools and flyers that listed "some of the best" white schools and Jefferson County Schools as the "bad" schools, with a white child asking, "Which one will you choose?"

She also reprimanded white parents for their degrading behavior toward Black students and the residents who were complicit.

"No member of the board has disavowed the belittling language of exclusion used by separation organizers and supporters," the judge wrote. "The silence is deafening."

But being savvy about racial politics and inequality wasn't enough for Haikala to rule against it.

Monique Lin-Luse, a lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund who represented black families opposed to the split, told NBC that she remains "perplexed" by the judge's ultimate decision.

"It is difficult to square that with the final result, which doesn't give (Gardendale) a free pass to operate," Lin-Luse said. "It was not the outcome that, frankly, any of the parties expected."

She has yet to say if she will file an appeal.

Of course the white residents of Gardendale are happy with the outcome.

"We know that the community is anxious and ready to achieve its goal of a locally led public school system. We are, too," said Chris Segroves, the new board's president.

Meanwhile, there are a few caveats to this controversial judgment.

Haikala has reserved the right to reverse her decision if the city of Gardendale reverts back to its segregated past and the new school board must appoint African-Americans to its council.

Either way, this is a damn shame.
SOURCE: NBC News; The Washington Post RELATED NEWS: Wife Blames Racism And Stress At Uber's Headquarters For Her Husband's Suicide Black Congresswomen To Release Study On Missing Black Children Florida Principal Under Fire For Wanting Black And White Students To Be In Separate Classrooms

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Judge Allows White Alabama Town To Segregate Their Schools

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Contributing Writer An Alabama judge has given a predominately white town the right to remove itself from the current racially mixed school system to create their own that would most likely result in all-white schools. To make matter worse: Judge Madeline Haikala acknowledged that the race was a factor behind why the residents wanting to split, but still ruled in their favor anyway.

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Black and white children are not disciplined equally for behavior problems in school, researchers say. Last June, research showed that black students are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as white students. In addition, they are almost twice as likely to be expelled, or removed from school.

In September, researchers found that even black preschool children are almost four times more likely to get suspended. The researchers might have found a reason for this. Scientists at Yale University in Connecticut blame implicit bias.

Bias is a belief that some people or ideas are better than others. It often results in people being treated unfairly. When bias is implicit, it is understood, but not necessarily intentional or discussed.

Implicit biases can be held by white teachers. The study found that white teachers expect less from black students. The reason is based on unfair and untrue stereotypes about students of color. The bias also results in fewer black kids being recommended to programs for gifted students. Yale's study showed that much younger children than previously thought are victims of racial bias. Researchers also found implicit bias in both black and white teachers.

Looking For Behavior That Isn't There

Professor Walter Gilliam led the study. He showed 135 educators videos of four preschoolers, a black boy and girl, and a white boy and girl. The teachers were told that scientists wanted to know how they identify challenging behavior in the classroom. They were told to press a button when they saw such behavior.

Actually, no bad behavior existed in any of the videos. Yet when asked which children required the most attention, 42 percent of the teachers identified the black boy.

Researchers also used a computer to track teachers' eye movements. They found that preschool teachers watched black students more closely for bad behavior, especially boys. The participants' own answers led to almost the same results.

Allison R. Brown works for a group that tries to lower the number of students who end up in jail when they get older. She found the results heartbreaking but not surprising. The study report says that "black bodies are policed in the streets and in the classroom." It adds that black boys are often viewed as four and five years older than they are.

Behavior Is More Than Black And White

The study also says that the biggest racial differences in school punishments are for rules that can be interpreted different ways. Examples are disobedience and disrespect. Differences decrease when there is only one interpretation. A student carrying drugs is an example of that. The behavior is obvious.

Brown worries that the study is saying the same thing as the news headlines. Some people view black people as less than human. They treat them as if they do not deserve dignity and respect.

The study results partly confirmed Brown's concern. However, it shows that black children are not the only ones affected. Children of other races are as well. Teachers were also given information about the disruptive child's home life and family problems. Teachers were only more empathetic if they were the same race as the student. Otherwise, teachers were even harsher on the student. When thinking about why this could be, the report suspected it was because teachers felt more powerless if they were not the same race as the student.

"These findings suggest that teachers need support in understanding family struggles as they may relate to child behaviors," Gilliam says. He says it is especially true when the teacher and child are of different races.

Teachers And Parents Can Work Together

The good news is that teachers are willing to work at it. Gilliam said that when he gave teachers the opportunity to drop out of the study, only one person did. He recommends that teachers be offered anti-bias training programs.

Lauren Owen is a white teacher, and a graduate of Harvard University in Massachusetts. Owen describes race as something that is easy to identify with because it is visible. "It's easier to empathize when we have similar experiences with someone who looks the same as us," she says.

Gilliam says that educators are paid very little and teach because they love children. He tells parents of black children not to wait until biases build up. Instead they should get to know teachers and staff. Gilliam says that "in all of my years of studying this issue, I've never seen a case where a child was expelled or suspended from a childcare or preschool setting when the parents and teachers knew and liked each other."

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Do teachers treat children differently based on their color? Study says yes

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Black and white children are not disciplined equally for behavior problems in school, researchers say. Last June, research showed that black students are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as white students. In addition, they are almost twice as likely to be expelled, or removed from school.