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[NM]

Teen admits hate crime attack on Navajo

The Farmington Daily Times

/

March 28, 2007

Josh Winter, 18, pleaded guilty to conspiring with two other white youths in the racially motivated kidnapping and beating of William Blackie last summer in Farmington, N.M.
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'Teen admits hate crime attack on Navajo'


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  1. Dean Thomas Leh said,

    on December 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    I spent seven years living and working as a teacher in the ancient lands of the Navajo People of the Southwest. I consider myself extremely fortunate that I was given this unique opportunity to live with and serve a very ancient people. The experience was simply remarkable. Although I am of European descent, I entered into this new experience knowing that I would learn a great deal. During my years of living on the reservation, I was invited to experience the Sun Dance, the Deer Dance, the sweat-lodge ceremonies, the Beauty Way ceremony, and participated in numerous other spiritual ceremonies and meetings in tipis and traditional Navajo hogans. I have celebrated Thanksgiving in Navajo homes where ancient stories are still recounted as if they happened yesterday. I befriended numerous Native American and Navajo friends who opened up their hearts and their homes to me with true generosity and compassion. Although I no longer live on the reservation, I will carry these amazing experiences with me for the rest of my life. They have made me a better teacher and a much better person. I have sat at the feet of Navajo Elders and listened to their stories and wisdom and have always been treated with utmost dignity. I am completely confused by these hate crimes. It is simply impossible for me to understand. Perhaps the greatest way to overcome racial hatred, prejudice, bigotry or intolerance is simply to realize that we all have something to learn and that we are meant to be different. Difference is good. Everything in Nature is different and diverse. In my opinion, cultural diversity is a human gift, and never a threat or cause for fear. We should not simply “tolerate” diversity, but we need to recognize and celebrate this human diversity. In my opinion, education is the key to overcoming these racial problems. Children are not born with these prejudices and hatreds, but they have learned them from their families, and sometimes, even their schools and churches. Teachers have a tremendous power in forming and educating the next generation. I cannot change what others do or how they think, but I can morally “form” every student who enters my classroom to become a person who respects, nurtures, protects and celebrates the diverse human cultural experience! The Lakota People use the following expression as part of their core belief system: “Mitakuye Oyasin.” “We are all related.” Wiser words have simply never been spoken. Dean Thomas Leh

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