January 19, 2019

Native American Congresswoman Condemns White Teens Who Taunted an Omaha Elder

“A signal of how common decency has decayed under this administration.”

Teenaged boys surrounded Nathan Phillips (right) as he sang in Washington, DC, on Friday. KC NOLAND/YouTube

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Footage of white teenagers taunting a Native American man in Washington, DC, has sparked outrage and prompted a Native American member of Congress to condemn their “display of blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance.”

A video of the incident, which occurred yesterday, shows a large group of boys, almost entirely white, some wearing “Make America Great Again” hats, surrounding and mocking a man as he sings and drums as part of the Indigenous Peoples March. Indian Country News identified the man as Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder and Vietnam Veteran.

One boy stood directly in front of Phillips, smirking as those around him chanted and made “tomahawk chops” with their hands. The teens were reportedly in Washington, DC, to attend the March for Life as part of a trip sponsored by their school, Covington Catholic High School, in Park Hills, Kentucky.

Speaking after the incident, Shilling, looking shaken, recounted what had happened: “I heard them saying, ‘Build that wall, build that wall.’ You know, this is indigenous lands. We’re not supposed to have walls here; we never did.” He said he wished that the “mass of young men” who taunted him would “put that energy into making this country really great.”

Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), who recently took her seat as one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, condemned the boys’ behavior and linked it to President Donald Trump: 

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covingtion, which operates the boys’ school, issued a statement saying was looking into the incident. 

Update: In a statement to the Enquirer, the diocese condemned the boys’ actions and apologized to Phillips. “The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion,” it said.

 

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“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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