ZitatCINCINNATI — Native American activist Nathan Phillips has changed his mind and now says he will meet with students at Covington Catholic High School.
He’s offering to travel as a delegate representing the international coalition behind the Indigenous Peoples March to Covington Catholic High School in and have a dialogue about cultural appropriation, racism and the importance of listening to and respecting diverse cultures, he said in a Tuesday news release.
Previously, he told the Cincinnati Enquirer it was "not the right time" to meet with them.
“Race relations in this country and around the world have reached a boiling point,” Phillips 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.
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“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 continued. “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.
Nathan Phillips is a professional activist and disrupter. I wonder who supports him financially
Nathan Phillips Tried to Disrupt Catholic Mass by Chanting, Beating Drum 2 Jan 2019
A group of Native American activists, led by native elder Nathan Phillips, allegedly tried to enter a Catholic church in Washington, DC, on Saturday while chanting and banging on their drums.
Nathan Phillips, along with about twenty other activists, tried to disrupt a January 19th evening Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, while chanting and banging on their drums, according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
Phillips, who had captured national media attention after his confrontation with Covington Catholic High School students on Friday, was reportedly stopped by security from entering the Catholic church on Saturday as he and others chanted and played their drums during a Vigil Mass.