No Respect

Every couple of years, like clockwork, members of the Shinnecock Nation are forced to take over a Southampton Board of Education meeting to demand better treatment for Shinnecock kids attending the district, angry that the district doesn’t do a better job of educating their kids.

It’s a familiar refrain that raises the question: Why do the Shinnecock feel nothing has changed? And why do they need to return to the district year after year to insist that the district pay attention?

It’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that members of the nation continue to feel disrespected by school officials and educators. And it’s unfortunate that the district continues to allow Shinnecock kids to fall behind their peers.

And every couple of years, like clockwork, district officials and educators promise that the members of the nation are being heard, and promise that they are doing everything they can to educate the kids.

But the relationship between the district and the members of the Shinnecock Nation remains an adversarial one, leading to confrontational meetings, apparently without any easy solutions.

Nothing seems to change — and that’s a responsibility that falls squarely on the district.

The latest spark that lit the tinder, drawing a dozen Shinnecock parents and the nation’s leaders to a Southampton School Board meeting on March 7, was allegations of mistreatment of a young elementary student, who was insulted, then separated from the rest of the class and forced to sit in isolation.

“I see a complete disrespect for our community from the Southampton School District,” Lance Gumbs, former tribal chairman and current tribal representative from the Shinnecock Nation, said at the recent meeting, “and we keep having these fake conversations — because that’s what they are.”

The meeting on March 7 devolved into accusations of mistreatment, of racism, and of questions about how state funds earmarked for Native populations was spent in the district. District officials later deleted portions of a video recording of the School Board meeting where specific allegations were made. That may have been to protect students, or teachers, but it’s ironic, at a time when district officials were maintaining that Shinnecock voices were being heard, that they were erased.

The animosity demonstrated by both sides at the recent meeting — and at similar meetings throughout the years — demonstrates a systemic problem that must be addressed.

Members of the Shinnecock community have asked for and are organizing a community forum to address their concerns. It’s a start, but it can’t be allowed to disintegrate into the same old tired confrontation.

Instead, both sides should see it as an opportunity to come together and begin to make positive and permanent changes to ensure the betterment of all students in the district, current and future.

It’s time to start fresh, to drop the lip service and begin to make some real changes — and end the old familiar refrain once and for all.