NOTE: 1/22/2019 Comments to this post have been critical. I have been accused of reacting without having all the facts at hand. I based my article on the viral video as well as new coverage, including multiple media interview comments from Nathan Phillip, the Native American elder. It was his comments as well as the videos I saw that shaped my thinking for this piece.
As more news has unfolded the entire story appears to be more nuanced than first described. The short video clip does reveal boorish behavior on the part of the boys, but longer videos, shot from different angles, reveals that the teens were provoked by the Black Hebrew Israelites, which CNN reported. CNN also reported that chants of "Build the Wall" were not audible. (For more information, please read this report from the Washington Post.) The Diocese of Covington has launched an investigation into the matter.
In fairness, the boy featured prominently in the video has said he thought he was acting appropriately and sought to do no harm. The student's statement can be found here. Unfortunately, some people have overreacted to what they saw and have threatened him and his family with harm. That is disgraceful.
I do hope all of us can learn from this event. Rushing to judgment is never wise, and while I do not believe I did, (since I did not write anything for 48 hours after the incident) the fuller story has revealed subtleties that initially escaped my attention. For that reason, I have removed some of my critical remarks about the boys. (You can read my additional reflection here.)
The virtual world erupted shortly after a video of a smiling young man standing in front of a Native American elder beating and chanting a drum near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. went viral. The young man who wore a MAGA hat was egged on by a cohort of similarly hatted peers who as it turns out are from his all-boys Catholic school in Covington, Kentucky. The students, who appeared unsupervised, were in Washington for the annual March for Life, an annual anti-abortion protest.
The man they were harassing is Nathan Phillips, a member of Nebraska’s Omaha tribe, who was in town celebrating Indigenous People’s Day. His actions were in defense of a group calling themselves the Black Hebrew Israelites who were exchanging taunts with the students. "When I took that drum and started singing, I placed myself in between these two factions of people,” Phillips, who lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, told the Detroit Free Press that he thought the young men were going to hurt the Black Hebrew Israelites.
As Phillips explains, “It wasn't a real conscious process, it was just what they call a spur of the moment. I'm a Marine Corps veteran, and I know what that mob mentality can be like. That's where it was at. It got to a point where they just needed something for them to ... just tear them apart. I mean, it was that ugly."
In a video uploaded to YouTube, Phillips said, “I heard them saying ‘build that wall, build that wall.’ These are indigenous lands, we’re not supposed to have walls,” he said. “I wish I could see that energy of that young mass of young men, put that energy into making this country, really, really great, helping those that are hungry.”
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, issued a statement condemning the actions of the youths and promised action. “The matter is being investigated, and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion. We know this incident also has tainted the entire witness of the March for Life and express our most sincere apologies to all those attended the March and all those who support the pro-life movement.”
It is ironic that a pro-life march would embolden young men to act so disrespectfully. Sadly, such behavior is not unusual. No longer do people hide their bigotry; they act on it publicly. In doing so, they reveal the dark undercurrent of bigotry that has always coursed through our history.
So what action can the diocese take that would demonstrate that it understands the issue? It might begin with the words of the man who was wronged. In his Free Press interview, Phillips said. "If their own instructors, their own teachers, their own chaperones, would have handled the situation right from the beginning, it would never have happened. I would have never been bothered by it."
If the diocese were to act on those words, it would commit itself, as an institution of faith, to hold students, parents and school responsible for what happened that day. Yes, the students were provoked by the Black Hebrew Israelites, but this provocation should not be an excuse for showing disrespect toward an elder.
