Activist says he wants to meet with students
Native American says he’ll meet with students
Native American in viral video initially said it was “not the right time”
CINCINNATI – Native American activist Nathan Phillips now says he will meet with students at Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky.
He offered to travel as a delegate representing the international coalition behind the Indigenous Peoples March to Covington and have a dialogue about cultural appropriation, racism and the importance of respecting diverse cultures, he said in a news release Tuesday.
He had told the Cincinnati Enquirer earlier that it was “not the right time” to meet with the students.
“Race relations in this country and around the world have reached a boiling point,” he said Tuesday. “It is sad that on the weekend of a holiday when we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., racial hostility occurred on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”
He says he’d like to use what occurred as a teachable moment.
Phillips and others were closing the Indigenous Peoples March with a prayer ceremony when, videos show, a group known as the Black Hebrew Israelites and the students began arguing. Phillips said he stepped between the two groups in an effort to quell the incident.
“I have read the statement from Nick Sandmann, the student who stared at me for a long time. He did not apologize, and I believe there are intentional falsehoods in his testimony,” Phillips said. “But I have faith that human beings can use a moment like this to find a way to gain understanding from one another.”
Phillips expressed appreciation for the statements from the school and the mayor of Covington that mockery and taunting are not representative of the compassion, respect, and other inclusive values they want to teach.
“So, let’s create space for the teaching of tolerance to happen,” he said.
Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby had invited Phillips to “break bread and make amends” with the students after short clips of a video of the incident went viral.
“It’s not the right time,” Phillips told the Enquirer on Monday night.
Many social media users interpreted, and Phillips maintains, that the students were harassing him. In the viral video clips, Sandmann, a junior, is seen standing face to face with Phillips, smiling, as Phillips calmly beats a drum and chants a prayer.
Phillips said he’s ready to “work toward a better America. ... I’m just working for a better future for all of our children.”