Blog Post 3: Covington Catholic High School, the Black Hebrew-Israelites and the Native American elder controversy

The truth of the controversy of the situation between the Covington Catholic High School and the Native American elder, is not as clear as it seems… especially if you don’t do your research. So, to start off, I would like to express a few insights on the interaction that I have gained from researching all three parties. One, the Covington Catholic High School and its all male (and predominately white) students appear to be(and has pointed to, in various videos) grounded in a educational culture of racism, sexism, intolerance of difference, intimidation, bullying, and aggressive behavior. Second, the Native American elder was trying to diffuse the situation between the Black Hebrew-Israelite group and the Covington students. Third, the Black Hebrew-Israelite group did say hateful things to the students and also to indigenous people, but the way in which these groups reacted to each other is completely different. Lastly, Sandman was being completely disrespectful to the Native American elder. To start off the, black Hebrew-isarelites had been saying disrespectful things to the indigenous people present and to the high schoolers. And while the indigenous people di confront the black Hebrews, they only talked (and screamed) at each other. However, this does not excuse the behavior of these two groups. Moving forward, it is clear to me that the idea of whether Sandman had been racist/disrespectful or not is the question that most people want to be answer. I say that Sandman was being disrespectful and racist because his school has shown that they actively participate in racist and disrespectful behavior during school games (mocking and wearing blackface to intimidate black athletes from opposing team), to mocking the Native American elder with tomahawk hand expressions. Even before the encounter between the High school students (who happened to be present in Washington for the anti-abortion march) mocked and insulted a group of women as they were walking by, referring to the as “sluts” as well as yelling “build a wall”. The junior student Sandman displayed racism and disrespect because he stood in the way of the elder, attempting to keep him from escaping the loud and rambunctious students. He also displayed g some sort of authority over the elder while doing this. All together, when you look at the behavior of the students before the incident and after the incident, there is one thing that is clear. These students were present at the march to start conflict with others. They were craving a situation where they could unleash their inner anger, control the environment, and shut down others who they found opposing. Their chants and expressions of school pride are built on these ideas, to display their superiority and to mock others in the process. I value the evidence I have seen, that has led me to this conclusion because it shows that even before the student went to the march, they were racist and disrespectful towards others at their own school, in their own environment. What would make the this incident between elder and them any different?