Students and community members are furious after teens at two Minnesota high schools allegedly sent racist messages to each other on social media, with one wishing a bomb would go off so “all Natives die.”
The local Native American reservation slammed the “ignorant and racist statements” this week, urging the Duluth-area high schools, Esko and Cloquet, to take greater steps to combat bigotry.
In a post made on the Facebook page of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, reservation leadership alerted the community to a letter they sent to the superintendents of both school districts in response to a “disturbing screenshot” of the conversation that was leaked to students. Along with other offensive statements, students from Cloquet and Esko had sent Snapchat messages to one another, expressing how they would like Cloquet to be bombed so “all Natives die.”
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“One of our…members received a disturbing screenshot of a Snapchat conversation between Cloquet and Esko students making racist remarks and threats directed toward Native students and the Tribe. We are horrified and saddened by the ignorant and racist statements of students from schools where many of our Native youth attend,” reads the letter, written by Kevin Dupuis Sr., the chairman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
“It is imperative that our schools remain safe for all students to attend. …Our students cannot receive an education they are entitled to under the law if they feel unsafe and unwelcome in their own schools.”
Screenshots shared with The Daily Beast show that four students exchanged derogatory comments about the Native population at Cloquet High School.
“If I had to go to Cloquet, I would have ‘COVID’ for a week. I’m not going there with the Tribe,” one student said.
“I don’t blame you,” another responded.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing you guys, but the Tribe—fuck that,” the first student continued.
“I wish our school got bombed and all Natives die,” the second student said, adding at one point, “It wouldn’t be that big of an issue because they don’t show up most days.”
“They die off quick,” another student replied.
Dupuis demanded the schools’ superintendents address what happened and how their districts plan to discuss racism with students.
“While punishment of the students involved may be one step, we need to ensure that our students remain safe in the public schools they attend. The schools and school districts must teach all students the harms of racist and violent rhetoric,” the letter read.
Dupuis also insisted that the leaders need to come together for a meeting to discuss the situation.
Cloquet School District Supt. Michael Cary wrote in a community letter it was “intolerable that a Cloquet student would speak, think, or condone racist thoughts expressed in [the] message.” He also apologized “for the harm [the message] has done or may do to our students, families and community” and said disciplinary action would be enforced. The superintendent of Esko schools, Aaron Fischer, shared similar sentiments.
Neither superintendent immediately returned The Daily Beast’s request for comment Thursday.
In another incident reported by the Star Tribune, a sophomore who’s Native American and played hockey at Cloquet said he experienced teammates mocking Native traditions in the locker room. Matthew Williams said his teammates did not know he was Native until the Snapchat messages surfaced, and they sparked a conversation about racism. A few apologized, he said, but Williams felt that more needs to be done to address the ongoing bigotry.
According to the Star Tribune, 14 percent of students in the Cloquet school district are Native American, while about one percent of Esko students are Native American.
On the reservation’s website, it says the “Fond du Lac Band is one of six Chippewa Indian Bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe” and has over 4,200 members.
According to the Star Tribune, both Cary and Fischer have met with tribal leaders.
