North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights |
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~North Dakota Human Rights Coalition PAUR Report~ Visit our Website at www.ndhrc.org
October 29, 2003
Programs ~ Announcements ~ Updates ~ Resources
Hello members and friends of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition!
In this week’s PAUR Report:
Announcements 1) Great Turnout for NDHRC Conference 2) Ford Foundation Program Recognizes Community Leaders
Newspaper Articles 3) The Forum (Fargo), Other views: Native American sports mascots are offensive 4) High Plains Reader (Fargo), Glorious nation bashing 5) Bismarck Tribune, Stereotypes can go both ways 6) Grand Forks Herald, UND: Panel says rethink logo, nickname 7) The Forum (Fargo), First Cass khat case brings jail sentence 8) Grand Forks Herald, Dorreen Yellow Bird Column: Visitors from other countries hold mirror to U.S. 9) The Forum (Fargo), Heathens decry plaque 10) The Forum (Fargo), Associated Press, Long journey ends 11) Grand Forks Herald, History happened at recent dedication of Sakakawea statue, co-chair of statue campaign says 12) The Forum (Fargo), David Espinoza letter: Treated badly at Engelstad arena 13) Grand Forks Herald, Seating arrangements weren’t satisfactory 14) The Forum (Fargo), Refugees find transportation 15) Grand Forks Herald, Local people with disabilities explore workplace options during Mentoring Day
Events 16) Stop the Hate & 10% Society Host Event to Discuss Hate Crimes & Become Allies Against Hate, October 30th, NDSU, Fargo
Reminders 17) North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities (NDCPD), Statewide Disability Training/Workshops, October – November 18) “Stolen Dreams” Open House, Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center, Moorhead, MN 19) Sisters of the Presentation at Sacred Heart Convent Presents “Peace Studies” 2003 Series (Various Locations in ND and MN)
********************************************* Announcements *********************************************
1.) Great Turnout for NDHRC Conference
Preliminary numbers indicate an estimated 70 or more people attended our first annual conference, and anywhere between 40 and 50 showed up for the Friday night multicultural social.
Channel 6 covered the Friday social, talking with and interviewing several of our multicultural table hosts. Channel 4 interviewed NDHRC board member, Barry Nelson, at the conference on Saturday.
Special thanks to all those who helped make the conference a success!
Post-conference information will be available soon on our web site at www.ndhrc.org.
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2.) Ford Foundation Program Recognizes Community Leaders
Deadline:
January 6, 2004 Newspaper Articles *********************************************
3.) Other views: Native American sports mascots are offensive
Andrea Warren-Deegan, Assistant Director for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition sent The Forum the following response to the recent discussion on Native American sports mascots.
Other views: Native American sports mascots are
offensive
Sports teams have matured historically, become inclusive and helped to unite people from different communities, cultures and countries -- except for those who continue to alienate and dishonor First Nations (Native American) people through their depictions of them as team mascots.
Even more disheartening is the number of people who do not seem to view this endorsement as an inherent disregard of the true-to-life representation of American Indians, and a discrediting of the contributions and sacrifices we as a people have made for this country.
No human being should be subjected to such a belittling. It is an offense to our rights as humans. Todd Gitlin, a sociologist, essayist, novelist and professor of culture, journalism and sociology at New York University, defines a human as a “member of the species, the single race homo-sapiens. Whatever persons are called, or call themselves, wherever they live… Therefore human rights are benefits to which people are entitled simply by virtue of being human.”
Whether Irish, Catholic, Viking, Native American or farmer, we should be afforded the same rights. Unfortunately, our American history has proved this to be a struggle and continual process of our nation’s (the United States) development.
<snip>
View full article here
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4.) High Plains Reader (Fargo), Glorious nation bashing
Barry Nelson, member of the board of directors for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition sent the High Plains Reader the following letter in response to a Bismarck private school t-shirt depiction of a Native American mascot.
Glorious nation bashing By Barry Nelson High Plains Reader – 10/9/2003
To the Editor,
They
just don’t get it. That was my response upon hearing a story on the North Dakota
Public Radio news yesterday (Thursday, September 25), regarding a Bismarck
private school printing t-shirts depicting Native Americans in a derogatory way.
Apparently, when a Native American leader brought the matter to the school's
attention, the superintendent's "typical" non-Indian response was in a sense,
"We didn't mean anything by it."
After all the discussion about NDSU taking a stand on the UND school mascot, after the student senate voted to request that NDSU take a stand to not use the controversial mascot on campus, after the school administration stated it would rather study the issue and create more sensitivity among the student body, I attend a NDSU football game a couple weeks ago. What do I hear: the old chant "Sioux suck," even though that team isn't even in the building! And watching news file footage, I see clips of NDSU students decked out in -- what else -- NDSU colors with the infamous phrase splashed across the front.
As an NDSU alumnae, I am, first off, disgusted. I think they do get it. My sense is that the NDSU administration is saying that there is more money to be made by not confronting this issue. That even though Native Americans -- and others -- are offended by this continued denigration of a whole race of people, that if they just ride it out, the issue will go away. And who cares about a few "sensitive" types, anyway?
<snip>
View online article here
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5.) Bismarck Tribune, Stereotypes can go both ways
Stereotypes can go both ways
View online article here
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6.) Grand Forks Herald, UND: Panel says rethink logo, nickname
UND: Panel
says rethink logo, nickname Grand Forks Herald – 10/23/2003
A nationally sanctioned accrediting board says UND's Indian-head logo and nickname get in the way of its efforts to become an even better university, and it recommended that the state Board of Higher Education revisit its decision to keep the controversial moniker.
"This has been much too good an institution for much too long to let this issue diminish its good stature, both in the immediate region and among your peers around the country," said Nancy Ellen Talburt, vice provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Talburt's comment followed a three-day reaccreditation visit of UND by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Talburt headed the 12-member evaluation team.
The team's initial findings indicate UND is fulfilling its mission and will be reaccredited for 10 years, making it eligible in the eyes of the U.S. Department of Education to dole out federal financial aid. But it was the recommendation about the nickname and logo that stood out in the team's report.
<snip>
View full article here
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7.) The Forum (Fargo), First Cass khat case brings jail sentence
First Cass khat case brings jail sentence
A judge on Thursday handed out what might be Cass County’s first sentence for khat, a popular drug in eastern Africa that is legal in much of the world.
Liban Yussuf Mohamud, 31, of Minneapolis pleaded guilty to two felony counts: possessing khat and conspiring to possess it with intent to deliver. Judge Michael McGuire followed a joint recommendation and sentenced Mohamud to 30 days in jail and ordered him to pay $500 in fees.
Mohamud received credit for 32 days already served and will have the felonies become misdemeanors on his record. Police arrested Mohamud and two other men Sept. 6 at a Fargo hotel after they asked to pick up a package. The package, which police had confiscated from the mail, held several pounds of the leafy stalks.
The other two defendants are scheduled to enter pleas to the charges today.
Khat, which gives an amphetamine-like high, is socially acceptable in many of the areas it is grown.
View online article here
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8.) Grand Forks Herald, Dorreen Yellow Bird Column: Visitors from other countries hold mirror to U.S.
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Visitors from other countries hold mirror to U.S. Grand Forks Herald – 10/14/2003
We live in a world community of many difference races and cultures. Our world communities don't agree on many things, and we sometimes are like a family of dogs, all trying to get the best part of a kill.
In this country most of us live well. In the world, we live in the center of a concentric circle and sometimes forget that there are other communities outside our own circle.
I have worked at the Grand Forks Herald for six years and a month. During that time, journalists and interns from other countries have spent weeks and even months at the newspaper.
Introducing people from other countries to American ways helps them understand us and it gives us a peek into lives and cultures that can be strange to us.
Many times, however, these visitors struggle with English, so a two-way, in-depth conversation can be difficult.
That hasn't been true of Beata Kasale, who is from the African country of Botswana.
Beata came to this country at the urging of a national newspaper organization that arranges visits for journalists to other countries. Her English is good. She speaks with a delightful accent of her native language, but can carry on conversations about her country and ask questions about ours.
One of the things Beata wanted to experience was a visit to an Indian reservation. So she was introduced and assigned to me. First, we visited the Red Lake reservation in Minnesota, where she had the chance to meet the tribal chairman and his assistant. At first she thought they were non-Native because they didn't have the stereotypical dark brown skin.
<snip>
View full article here
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9.) The Forum (Fargo), Heathens decry plaque
Heathens decry plaque
Matt Reardon has heard what some people think about his religion -- it’s all “fairy tales” or its members are “devil worshippers.”
“Heathenry is not a very well-understood religion,” said Reardon, Duluth, Minn.
Reardon, his wife, JoAnn, and their three children follow an ancient religion, sometimes called Asatru, which follows the Asir, the gods of early Scandinavians, Germans or Anglo-Saxons.
That’s part of the reason they object to a monument, which commemorates the conversion of Norway to Christianity with the words “Odin fought -- Christ won,” at Moorhead’s city-owned Hjemkomst Center.
“It implies that heathenry was wiped out, and that’s just not accurate,” Reardon said.
The monument consists of a Celtic cross, a replica of one planted by missionaries in Norway in 995, and a stone plaque that honors the priests and monks who “with the gospel of Christ’s love,” helped turn Norway from pagan to Christian.
Moorhead resident Chuck Wallace has asked the city to remove the plaque, saying it insults a heritage and promotes one religion over another on city-owned land.
<snip>
View full article here
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10.) The Forum (Fargo), Associated Press, Long journey ends
Long journey ends
WASHINGTON -- American Indian drums and chanting song rang off the curved sandstone walls of the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday in celebration of Sakakawea, the Lewis and Clark guide whose bronze likeness is the latest addition to the National Statuary Hall Collection.
“Today, Sakakawea’s long, 200-year journey has come to an end,” Tex Hall, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations, said during a ceremony dedicating the statue.
Sakakawea was a Hidatsa teenager when she joined Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition near what is now the North Dakota city of Mandan during the winter of 1804-1805.
She, her husband and infant son joined the expedition, and she served as an interpreter and guide as Lewis and Clark explored territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.
Her presence with the expedition as it traveled west was taken as proof by other Indians of its friendly intentions. “A woman with a party of men is a token of peace,” Clark wrote in an 1805 journal entry.
“Her contributions were tremendous,” Hall said. “(The explorers) would not have been successful without her.”
<snip>
View full article here
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11.) Grand Forks Herald, History happened at recent dedication of Sakakawea statue, co-chair of statue campaign says
PRAIRIE VOICES
<snip>
How did you get involved in the Sakakawea statue campaign, which culminated in the recent dedication of the statue in the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.?
When the dedication ceremony was over, I thought, "What a magnificent moment," and "how am I going to tell about this?" It was as much emotional as intellectual.
The journey of the Sakakawea statue began for me 66 years ago in Grand Forks. Our next-door neighbor was Dr. Orin G. Libby. He was dean of the history department at UND. In the early 1900s, at the time of the building of the original Sakakawea statue in Bismarck, he had been secretary of the State Historical Society. Actually, he was one of the founders of the society.
I was a little girl, and my grandparents lived in Kansas, so I adopted Dr. Libby as my grandpa. I used to go next door and sit on his lap. He was probably one of the foremost national authorities on the American Indians at that time. That is where I first heard about Sakakawea. He was proud of the statue (which is on the Capitol grounds in Bismarck), because he had worked with the North Dakota Federation of Women's Clubs to fund it.
. What meant something to me is that he said, "Sakakawea is a precious jewel, Marijo, and you always treat her as one. She has earned the right to be honored." I thought at the dedication in Washington, D.C., how thrilled he would be to see that his early efforts had made it all the way to Washington. That is where my beginning with the statue came about.
<snip>
View full article here
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12.) The Forum (Fargo), David Espinoza letter: Treated badly at Engelstad arena
David
Espinoza letter: Treated badly at Engelstad arena
I am writing this to express my outrage over behavior shown toward me and other people with disabilities at the recent Wild game at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
I have a disability and purchased a ticket for section 301, which has a reserved accessible seating area for persons with disabilities. I purchased the ticket for 301 because I knew it was one of the prime arena locations at the “Ralph” that offered accessible seating.
To my dismay and embarrassment when I arrived at the game, I was told by the section attendant that “Section 301 is not available for those with disabilities as we had to close it off to accommodate the ‘unusual’ number of requests by the press covering this game.” Thus we were directed to an accessible section of the arena, which had tickets that sold at a much lesser price. I was not the only person with a disability affected by this policy. I knew of others in wheelchairs that waited for about 20 minutes before alternative accessible seating to section 301 was found.
I think this is intolerable behavior by the management of the Ralph. People with disabilities have civil rights. Management should have anticipated the increased press coverage requests for this game between two NHL teams. A plan should have been in place. Just think of the huge volume of press coverage requests for the World Junior Tournament coming to the Ralph. What will management decide in that case? Close off all accessible seating? I think not.
David Espinoza
East Grand Forks, Minn.
View online article here
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13.) Grand Forks Herald, Seating arrangements weren’t satisfactory
Seating arrangements weren't satisfactory Grand Forks Herald – 10/23/2003
STEPHEN, Minn. - I read with interest the reply from the Englestad Arena spokesperson concerning the accessible seating problem at the Wild game.
You see, I was with the letter-writer, David Espinoza, that night. He is married to my niece and had asked me several weeks earlier if I wanted to go with him to the Wild game. He got the tickets well ahead of time in order to get the good seats he knew were available in Section 301 for disabled persons.
The arena spokesperson's response stated, "those members of the press were relocated and all seats in 301 were available. To the knowledge of Ralph Engelstad Arena management, no ticket holder was redirected to an alternative location."
That is totally untrue. When we arrived at Section 301, we were told that the unexpected amount of media people filled that section. In fact, there was no "plan" for those people who had tickets in 301 to be seated.
However, one of the ushers in that section had received some extra tickets in another section that she offered to us. We were brought over to that section, but those seats were not satisfactory for David's disability and we went out to find some help.
<snip>
View full article here
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14.) The Forum (Fargo), Refugees find transportation
Refugees find transportation
John Manque used to hike more than 40 blocks to get from his home at 32nd Avenue South to his Fargo Assembly job on Seventh Avenue North.
A Sudanese refugee who doesn’t own a car, Manque would spend more than an hour each way walking and running the distance during summer.
On snowy, winter nights, it could take him up to two hours, said Manque, who came to the area several years ago and has limited English skills.
But for the past three weeks, Manque has watched highway signs blur by on Interstate 29 from inside a blue 1993 Oldsmobile van as volunteers from The People’s Diversity Forum of Fargo drive him to work.
While many settled refugees have their own cars and driver’s licenses, some don’t.
These new Americans struggle to get to jobs, schools and English classes, said David Ideele, a Nigerian refugee who first settled in Bismarck in 1999.
<snip>
View full article here
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15.) Grand Forks Herald, Local people with disabilities explore workplace options during Mentoring Day
PEOPLE: A working chance Grand Forks Herald – 10/16/2003
Laura Dahlen had to be quick to keep up with licensed practical nurse Melissa Vodicka on Wednesday morning as Vodicka moved from patient to patient on the third floor post-orthopedic surgery wing of Altru Hospital.
Thirty of the 32 beds on the unit were filled. Dahlen, 19, who was shadowing Vodicka as part of a mentoring program for people with disabilities, had picked a good day to see what an LPN's job was like.
"It's a busy day," Vodicka said, pausing briefly to greet Dahlen before getting back to work. Vodicka, the lone LPN that morning on Third Floor East, scurried from task to task, working on the discharge of one patient, making a call for another who needed pain medication, gathering bedding and a wheelchair in the room of another.
<snip>
Wednesday was National Disability Awareness Mentoring Day, a day to promote career development for students and job seekers with disabilities. The Greater Grand Forks Business Leadership Network sponsored the event here, with eight people with disabilities visiting job sites, said network member Lori Petrick. It was a chance for them to get a firsthand look at some career options, Petrick said, and to raise awareness among employers.
"Given the opportunity to participate in employment, people with disabilities have successful outcomes just as those without disabilities," she said.
<snip>
Some worry about whether they should disclose their disability to their employer. Others worry about whether employers will accommodate their disability, she said.
"They're worried about the stigma a disability might have and just worried somehow that the employer will think they can't do the job," she said.
<snip>
View full article here
********************************************* Events *********************************************
Stop the Hate and 10% Society would like to invite you to examine yourself and our community. We feel there is need for people to not only become aware of issues and problems that face minorities on a day to day basis, but also to become educated in becoming allies against hate.
From the start of the new millennium there have been almost 30,000 reported hate crimes against people. Hate crimes that not only involve race, but crimes against religion, sexual orientation, sex, age and nationality.
On Thursday, October 30th they will be showing "A Journey to a Hate Free Millennium" in the North Dakota State University, Memorial Union room 203 at 7pm. The program will run approximately an hour and a half. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.
********************************************* Reminders *********************************************
17.) North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities (NDCPD), Statewide Disability Training/Workshops, October - November
The North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities (NDCPD) at Minot State University are sponsoring FREE of charge Disability training/workshops this month and into November. Support for the training/workshops is made possible through the North Dakota Medicaid Infrastructure Grant.
The following workshops are designed for people with disabilities, their attendants, and service providers:
All training sessions begin at 9:00 AM and end at 3:00 PM. Break refreshments will be provided; lunch is on your own.
The training sessions schedule is as follows:
October 15, 2003 Williston El Rancho Motor Hotel 1623 2nd Ave W
October 16, 2003 Minot International Inn 1505 N Broadway
October 21, 2003 Dickinson Hospitality Inn 532 15th St W
October 22, 2003 Bismarck Best Western Doublewood Inn 1400 E Interchange Ave
October 28, 2003 Jamestown Gladstone Hotel & Suites 111 2nd St SW
October 29, 2003 Devils Lake American Inn & Suites 1116 Hwy 2 E
November 4, 2003 Fargo Best Western Doublewood Inn 3333 13th Ave S
November 6, 2003 Grand Forks Best Western Town House 710 1st Ave
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18.) “Stolen Dreams” Open House, Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center, Moorhead, MN
"Stolen Dreams" (October 11, 2003? – December 22, 2003) is an exhibition of 70 contemporary photographs by occupational health physician Dr. David L. Parker. Dr. Parkers shows in very real, moving photographs that the issues of child labor is not one of the past, but one that is affecting the entire world community - including the United States.
"My project can never be completed" says Parker, "what exists is too vast to be seen or documented fully, but it is too important to ignore."
For more information about Stolen Dreams visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/gallery/intro.html.
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19.) Sisters of the Presentation at Sacred Heart Convent Presents “Peace Studies” 2003 Series (Various Locations in ND and MN)
Presentation Peace Studies has an excellent series of forum speakers for the coming year. Please mark your calendars and more information will be forthcoming this fall!
Nov. 14, 2003 - "Security: An Affair of the Heart" Fr. Johns Sandell, Fargo Jan. 23, 2004 - "What Is a Peace Church?" Dr. Gerald Schlabach, St. Thomas U., St. Paul Feb. 27, 2004 - "What Does My Faith Call Me to in Violent Times?" Panel of three: B'hai, Quaker, Muslim Mar. 26, 2004 - "Jesus against Christianity" Dr. Jack Nelsonp-:Pallmeyer, St. Thomas U., St. Paul April 30 & May 1, 2003 - "Receding Violence, Reseeding the Earth - Harmony in the Web of Life" Helen Prejean and Marya Grathwohl
View additional information here
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***Member Reminder*** Please keep us in mind for your group or church social action/social justice meetings! We’d be happy to provide a presentation at a meeting or provide newsletter articles for your organizations.
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Do you have a Program, Announcement, Update or Resource that you would like shared on our weekly PAUR report? If so, please send an email to AndreaDeegan@NDHRC.org and we will do our best to accommodate you.
If you are not a member of NDHRC yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up now! On-line or by mail, it's all set at: http://www.ndhrc.org/membership.htm
Not getting the PAUR Report directly in your email? It's so easy to be added to the PAUR mailing list! Email HumanRights@NDHRC.org
If you have received this email in error, or would like to be removed From the PAUR Report mailing list, please send an email to AndreaDeegan@NDHRC.org for immediate assistance.
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition P.O. Box 1961 Fargo, North Dakota 58107-1961 Phone: (701) 239-9323 Fax: (701) 478-4452 Email: humanrights@ndhrc.org
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