At the start of the year, a group of 57 Native Americans students from the Lakota tribe were taken to a minor league hockey match in Rapid City, South Dakota to celebrate their academic achievements. But what started as a field trip to reward the students quickly turned into a nightmare, when a group of drunk men in an executive suite dumped beer on their heads and yelled “go back to the Rez!”
Seven months later, only one of the perpetrators faces criminal charges. His trial begins today, and if found guilty he will be convicted of disorderly conduct and fined $500 — avoiding hate crime charges, a jury, and jail time.
In January, a group of third through eighth grade students from the American Horse School were watching the local hockey team, the Rapid City Rush, before several adults started asking them questions about where they are from. Middle school teacher and head chaperone Consuelo Means alleges she overheard several men sitting in an executive suite above them asking eighth grade girls questions, and immediately asked the students to stop talking to the strangers because they were drunk. The men continued asking questions and when the home team scored, one banged on the wall and told the students to cheer louder because they were “from the Rez.” Means briefly looked for security for assistance, but when she returned to her seat, she felt something dripping on her head. Looking up, she saw the men dumping beer on three rows of students. When Means alerted the other chaperones and tried to intervene, the perpetrators reportedly yelled at the group to go back to the Rez.
[For more of this story, written by Carimah Townes, go to http://thinkprogress.org/justi...2/3682962/lakota-57/]
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