The Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) administrative building on Franklin was the site of a protest rally called "Let Indian Kids Exist" that highlighted the "generational mistreatment" of Native Americans by the education system in Grand Rapids and the United States as a whole. The protest was attended by around one-hundred people coming from a variety of backgrounds, including the Native American, Latino, and African-American communities. The catalyst for the protest was the recent closing of Grand Rapids' Bimaadiziwin High School.
The speakers emphasized the resiliency of the native community and the fact that the Native community has been repeatedly mistreated by the GRPS. Native American activist Deb Mueller asked the audience rhetorically, "who knows better than us what our children should be taught?" while other speakers emphasized that the Bimaadiziwin program was one of the only places where native culture was taught outside of the home. Rally organizer Dee Ann Sherwood told the crowd that history books teach people to fear Native Americans and that because people do not understand the struggle and fear the Native American community, they seek to destroy Native Americans and their culture. Levi Rickert explained that several audience members were wearing signs that read "$7,200" around their necks because that is the money that the district receives for each Native American student. He went on to state that this is $600 more than what the district receives for other children and highlighted his belief that if the federal government believes that Native American children deserve special treatment that they should get it by the Grand Rapids Public Schools.
After requesting a drum roll, Rickert read ten reasons why the Native community had gathered in protest on the steps of GRPS administrative buildings:
Native Americans have been left out of the process.
The Education system has failed Native Americans.
No longer will Native Americans be victims or treated as non-citizens.
The GRPS administration has misspent and mismanaged the $7,200 per native student.
The schools are scholastically retarded regarding native American history and culture. Native children continue to be damaged by history books that portray Natives as savages, fossils, or extinct.
The school has intimidated, threatened, and attempted to silence Native teachers. Natives have been lied to.
Natives demand that this administration let American Indian children be educated, excel, and exist.
Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, was the keynote speaker, reminding the audience that Native American culture is over a million years old and that it has remained despite the numerous attempts to eliminate it. Banks argued that current GRPS policy fits into a context of historical policies such as the 1884 policy that barred native languages from being taught and spoken in public schools and the 1888 policy that forbid drums and tobacco in schools. Like those policies, Banks said that the closure of the Bimaadiziwin High School is another effort designed to diminish Native culture. Banks asserted that the "Ten Reasons" reasons read earlier in the gathering sounded like a "ten count indictment" and Banks argued that the GRPS administration should go to jail for misspending money earmarked for native people. He told the administrators that they still have a chance to apologize and make the situation right, but also emphasized that people from all over the country are watching the situation because "when a native is hurt, the pain is felt all over."
To find out more about ongoing organizing efforts, visit peopleofthisplace.com.
