Covington, KY – A Kentucky boys’ school shut down its campus on Tuesday as a precaution and a small protest was held outside their diocese as fallout continued over an encounter involving white teenagers, Native American marchers and a black religious sect outside the Lincoln Memorial last week.
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President Donald Trump tweeted early Tuesday that the students at Covington Catholic High School “have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be” but says he hopes the teens will use the attention for good, and “maybe even to bring people together.”
The recorded images that initially generated outrage on social media were tightly focused on the students wearing “Make America Great Again” hats who seemed to laugh derisively as they surrounded an elderly Native American beating a drum.
Longer videos from wider perspectives emerged later over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. They revealed that the drummer — Omaha Nation elder Nathan Phillips — had intervened between the boys and the religious sect, at a moment when the teens seemed to be getting rowdier, and the black street preacher who had been shouting racist statements against both groups was escalating his rhetoric.
Soon, all sides were pointing fingers , speaking their own truths about feeling victimized and misunderstood.
“We just don’t know what the volatility of the situation is with these people that react and they don’t know the full story. And it’s very scary,” Jill Hamlin of Cincinnati, who was there to chaperone as the boys attended an anti-abortion rally, told FOX News Tuesday morning.
The American Indian Movement Chapter of Indiana and Kentucky held a small protest outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, with activists outnumbered by the media. Meanwhile, the school’s principal, Robert Rowe, said that “after meeting with local authorities,” they decided to close the campus “to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff.”
Phillips, for his part, offered Tuesday to come to the boys’ campus and join with them in a dialogue about cultural appropriation, racism and the importance of listening to and respecting diverse cultures.
“Let’s create space for the teaching of tolerance to happen,” his statement said, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I have faith that human beings can use a moment like this to find a way to gain understanding from one another.”
The diocese, which issued a weekend statement criticizing the boys’ behavior, was unavailable for comment Tuesday morning. Both the school and the diocese websites were taken offline.
Kentucky’s governor also weighed in, saying he was saddened by what happened.
“It was amazing how quick those who preach tolerance and non-judgment of others were to judge and label some high school students based on partial information,” Gov. Matt Bevin tweeted. “In a world where we have a wealth of information at our fingertips, we have increasingly little discernment and wisdom… Facts matter…The truth matters…Context matters… A little more genuine caring for one another and a little less digital vitriol would be good for all.”
what do you expect from hill billies, lock up the parents
The ‘black israelite’ kult taunted and hurled insults at the MAGA hat catholic HS boys who then surrounded and taunted and laughed in the faces of the American Indian Elders. The archdiocese already apologised to the Indian group, who had just completed a sacred ceremony at Arlington Cemetery. Thank G-d there was no violence on any side or injuries in the mayhem. The Indians will forgive. The catholics will forget. The ‘black israelites’ will be forgotten…
Indian Elder Nathan Phillips offers to meet with students, community, and Catholic leaders to represent the international coalition behind the Indigenous People’s March. Phillips gained sudden and unwanted fame after a YouTube video went viral showing him being mocked by a group of Catholic high school students wearing MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) hats while he was singing a traditional Native song at the conclusion of the Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday. Now, he says he’d like to use what occurred as a teachable moment.
He’s offering to travel as a delegate representing the international coalition behind the Indigenous Peoples March to Covington Catholic High School in Northern Kentucky and have a dialog about cultural appropriation, racism, and the importance of listening to and respecting diverse cultures.
“Race relations in this country and around the world have reached a boiling point,” said Phillips. “It is sad that on the weekend of a holiday when we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King, racial hostility occurred on the steps of the Lincoln memorial, where King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Pope Francis has apologized to the Indians
I am very impressed how wrong the first press reports were. It seems everyone involved showed bad judgement.