A marker tree at IHP.  Very stark amidst oak savannah, prairie grass, rock formations, and deciduous trees.  This marker tree stands out very plainly to the learned eye, though it is vastly outnumbered by the surrounding greenery and man made edifices.  When I first saw this tree my heart swelled within me.  We were here!  We shaped our surroundings and they still stand as a testament to our people, even though our many burial mounds were desecrated for farm land by the dominant European cultures.

Last night at a soccer game in Lake City, my son played an outstanding game.  He is defense and has earned the nickname "The Wall" over his playing years.  He stood tall and straight as he played the ball, even though his man was pulling and pushing him, he did not give up. He shut down one of Lake City's better players much to the dismay of his daddy.  So much so that he had to yell racial slurs.  He was talked to, he quieted down, but my son heard it.  My heart swelled with anger and my thoughts were dark.  I looked for this ignoramus after the game, but he was gone. 

Racism like this rampant for our people in SE MN.  We left a school in Rochester, Century High School, which is 85% white, because of this.  The administration, the principal, assistant principal, the activities director, Hal Houghton, Otto the math teacher, were all biased.  What was even worse, is that each one of these people lied about my son, lied about following the 504 plan, and even lied to my husband.  Apparently there is a culture there that predominates at Century and that is you do not question their authority.  Uh; no!  Meetings were held to point out their racist attitudes and behaviors and words, but they could not or would not understand.  They think that just because a child of color attends "their" school, they are tolerant and not racist.  Yet, when you try to level the playing field and bring to light oppressive tactics, they get angry, say you are intolerant because you are "pulling the race card."  We left Century and moved on to better things like Lourdes, a private school.

Like the marker tree, my son is here.  He is a good soccer player and he has the God given right to play just like everyone else.  Just like the kids from Lake City and at Century.  He was one of 4 kids of color on the Lourdes JV soccer team.  At Century, he was among the many kids of color on the C squad.  There were NO kids of color on the JV soccer team or Varsity team.  He can become a light to others if he continues to play the ball and stay focused on his abilities and not other people's character disabilities.