Institutional racism impacts state’s educational system

New Mexico parents, including Native families, and school districts are suing the state for failing to provide public schools the supports necessary for all our children to “succeed.”

In his Commentary (“New Mexico can’t sue its way to better schools,” June 27), D. Dowd Muska asserts that those suing the state have a “profound misunderstanding of government education’s ability to compensate for severe social pathologies.” I counter that they have a perfect understanding of the institutional racism in New Mexico that has impacted the state’s educational system and every aspect of indigenous lives, and want to do something about it.

The lawsuit is not simply about gaining more funding for our schools. It’s also very much about gaining the programming relevant to our populations that have been most hurt by systemic discrimination — Native American, economically disadvantaged and English language learners.

We must remember that the federal government and state government also are responsible for the “social pathologies” that Muska, from the Rio Grande Foundation, is citing. The indigenous communities in New Mexico did not ask for our societies, government, foods, the education and socialization of our children, and countless others ways of knowing and being in this world to be disrupted and disturbed.

All of our communities continue to persevere and work toward decolonization, healing and dealing with the numerous harmful manifestations of colonization. One of the most successful means of doing this is by taking control of educating our children.

There are very hopeful, very promising schools such as Native American Community Academy, Walatowa Headstart, Keres Children’s Learning Center, Six Directions Indigenous School, Santa Fe Indian School Community Based Education Model and Dził Ditł’ooí School of Empowerment, Action and Perseverance that center on the rich indigenous knowledge, culture and world views of Native Americans, their indigenous languages and their lived experiences, and are truly inclusive of the families and communities as the core of their

instructional approaches.

These schools are having an amazing impact on children, their families and communities. First and foremost, children in these schools are already confident in who they are because they are participating in a strengths-based education; and secondly, they have their indigenous languages as a meaningful part of the whole rigorous instructional curriculum. Their parents and families are more invested in their education because it is more meaningful to themselves and their lived experience.

It would behoove the Public Education Department to genuinely work with and support New Mexico indigenous and tribal communities to create meaningful, integrated, holistic education systems that are inclusive of all New Mexico children.

It is true that simply providing our public schools more funding will not solve the problems our communities face. There is much to be done on many fronts, including addressing and reconciling the institutional and structural racism of the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Lawsuits cannot solve all of our problems, but the lawsuit to which Muska refers not only asks for adequate resources, it also sheds light on the institutional and structural racism that persists in the New Mexico education system and asks the court to do something about it.