Confronting Modern and Historical Bigotry 

I’ve always believed that we should teach history in its entirety. In my Introduction to Communications course my students and I dissect why President Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” is a powerful entry in the canon of American oratory. Line by line, the speech is a textbook perfect example of how to engage an audience at the crux of history and inspire them to move forward. Later in the semester, we watch the documentary Dakota 38, which captures how modern Dakotas are coping with the legacy of Lincoln’s order to execute 38 of their ancestors for “crimes” committed during the Dakota War. The film gives me the opportunity to use my classroom to discuss America’s problematic past. I’ve always grounded my pedagogy in the belief that teaching our entire history shows how far America has come. As we enter a new academic year with the news carrying clips of racist outbursts, mob scenes, and the toppling of monuments, bigotry is no longer obfuscated by the politically correct among us—it’s on full display for every eye to see. To many, it may seem that America’s progression against racism hasn’t actually progressed at all. The worst are those fanning the flames of racial tensions. Now is a time when we must all condemn their hate and celebrate our diversity.

Although some people may argue otherwise, there’s only one side in American social politics. It’s either “we the people” collectively win, or “we” collectively lose. Demographics separate us all by race, gender, politics, creed, and wealth, but a hate-fueled attack on one group of Americans is an attack on all of us. We know that the discriminatory words and deeds being spewed are a learned behavior. In response to the Charlottesville attack, former President Barack Obama tweeted a quote from Nelson Mandela’s 1994 autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, that said as much stating, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

While President Obama’s tweet is now the most liked one in history, its substance requires more than affirmation. It’s true that learning happens beyond the classroom, but a culturally sensitive education confronts, deconstructs, and eventually learns from the past so that our students can apply those lessons to their future. This is why I teach my students about the inherent prejudice behind blood quantum laws, Indian boarding schools, forced non-tribal adoptions of Indian children, and the century long bans on Native religious practices. Often the truth is eye opening for my students, and the conversations we have teach them about the past so that they can collectively move forward. My students tell me they value these discussions weeks, semesters, and even years later. I can proudly say that I’ve never heard a former student state that I hid painful knowledge from them.

Yes, it’s sometimes uncomfortable to teach the truth, especially in the face of active bigotry, but we’re certainly not the first generation to face these challenges. I remind my students of the truisms within Senator Robert Kennedy’s words to calm the riotous tensions brewing after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He stated, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom.” He went on to state that despite thoughts to the contrary, “…the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land.”

Our students, whatever their demographics, are a part of the vast majority of Americans who want to end bigotry. They’re enrolled at a tribal college or university where they’re earning both a Western and a tribally specific education from a mixture of Native and non-Native faculty. They walk in two worlds, and we need to equip them with the higher level reasoning skills they’ll need to succeed in both. Our schools are their training grounds to hone their voices on issues such as dehumanizing mascots, hurtful stereotypes, and aversive and subversive discrimination. They have the next seven generations to think about whenever they confront these issues, and we have a duty to equip them to succeed.

Make no mistake, America has come a long way in terms of celebrating our diversity, but we also have a long road yet to travel. It won’t be an easy journey that’s free from setbacks, but I believe that America’s greatest days will arrive once we, as a nation, collectively move beyond the pitfalls of discrimination. It won’t happen overnight, but change will come and current and future generations will lead it. I know this because I can see the passion and determination for a better tomorrow burning within the students in our classrooms. Regardless of their demographics, they’re receiving an education that both values our demographic differences and prepares them to stand strong against the reductive voices of oppression.

We can’t be discouraged by the national voices justifying prejudice. Instead, let’s encourage our students to stand on the right side of history. Let’s tell the apathetic about President John F. Kennedy’s warning that “the hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.” Let’s remind the zealous that ending hate is bigger than Charlottesville, monuments, and isolated protests. Our students will respond, and our classrooms will become catalysts in America’s long and arduous march towards inclusion. 

Ryan Winn teaches English, theater, and communication at College of Menominee Nation, where he has been recognized as the American Indian College Fund’s Faculty Member of the Year.

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in the Inquisitive Academic or any other opinion columns published by the Tribal College Journal (TCJ) do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TCJ or the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.