The following letter has been written to ABC news in support of the Native American community following Lee Ann Brown's address to the New Jersey Board of Public Education. February of 1998
written by:
Matthew Richter
1131 Iron Horse Rd.
McPheson, KS 67460-6014
316-241-7240
subject: religious stereotypes and abuse of Native American religious symbols.
I am holding in my right hand a well known photograph of a German classroom in 1936. In it are two nine or ten year old Jews looking with humiliation at the floor as their classmates look at them. On the chalk board the religious symbol of the Star of David and beside it written in an adult hand, words which demean these children and their people. It is a horrible scene of shame and degradation. We recognize the depth of the tragedy from our perspective here in the future knowing that ultimately these two children probably were killed along with millions of other Jews in the next 10 years.
In my other hand I hold a photograph of a wooden sculpture. It is a modern white boy with back pack about 9 or 10 years old. A school teacher has placed the religious symbol of a multicolored chicken feather headdress on it's head. The Sioux headdress which is of eagle feathers is a sacred religious symbol to my people. I photographed this wooden dummy inside at the main entrance to my children's school in November of 1997, where every child coming and going saw it. This is also the school where my wife teaches Physical Education. The horror of knowing how my relatives were terrorized and murdered, persecuted and oppressed on Andrew Jackson's Trail of Murder, Wounded Knee Massacre, Washita Massacre, Sand Creek Massacre all just within this area around Kansas. Knowing that boarding schools tore apart families taking children from their parents brainwashing them in a "civilized Christian fashion" turning them against their own parents, beating them for speaking their own language, beating them for practicing the religion of their people. It is even more horrible to know this has happened for 500 years and now in the dawn of the 21st century America, which welcomed so many who sought religious freedom still does not give it to the Native American who gave everything so these Americans could exist. Even today our veterans fight and die for freedom in a country to which they will return knowing that religious freedom for their people is still a dream in their hearts that has not reached the hearts of the rest of America.
I remember that millions and millions of Native Americans have died to make this country. I look at this photograph of the Jewish children being mocked with the precious symbol of their religion and know it was taken when there were still enough Jewish children alive that bigots were not forced to substitute wooden dummies as public schools in America now must do.
Our religions have been against the law and are still beyond the respect or protection of people who run public schools. Our people and our spiritual beliefs are being mocked and lied about in elementary schools and high school history books. If you do not think this is true call any school who has had children dress in construction paper eagle feather headdresses and ask those teachers what the meaning of the eagle feather is. They will be unable to speak the truth because they do not know and do not care to learn. In contrast though, everyone of them will tell you the meaning of the Christian Cross which as a religious symbol is equal in significance to the eagle feather. Yet our people's religion is still demonized and forced into the category of curiosities and entertainment objects. We are not yet respected or recognized as people with religious beliefs by public schools all over the country. Every child subjected to this treatment is being taught the principles of white supremacy. If they were not they would treat Native American religious symbols as equal to any other.
Hitler's dream of erasing Jews from the earth fell far short of becoming reality but the American Dream of exterminating the Native American and our religions is still progressing with vigor. You can see that public education is one of the primary places that carry on this legacy of hatred teaching it to new generations.
I talked to my children's school principal about her wooden dummy of mockery when I discovered it and asked her to remove the headdress and she refused. Her suggestion was to have my child place a poster next to it explaining why it is mockery, knowing that this would expose my child to ridicule. While she understood that mockery of Jews is wrong she failed to accept that mockery of Native Americans is wrong showing that she, like so many others holds a strong affection for the belief that Native Americans are a racial subclass. You can view more details of this ongoing struggle to educate an ignorant school district in McPherson Kansas.
What has not appeared in this article is the fact that the principal and the majority of the other staff would not speak to my wife for two weeks after I wrote a letter exposing the principal for her hypocrisy. This caused much tension in our family between me and my wife as well as dividing my children away from the school, teachers and principal whom they should respect even though they see these persons in authority don't respect them. This is the day to day down and dirty of a racist and bigoted educational system.
I welcome your questions and invite you to further investigate the article on our web site as well as investigate other schools and towns who are being confronted by the parents of children who are being taught to adopt the beliefs of white supremacy by the public schools. This is a national problem.
Sincerely,
Matthew Richter