Indigenous parents, students call out Iowa City schools, Iowa City for racism

Dissatisfaction with the treatment of indigenous peoples in Iowa City and the Iowa City Community School District came to light after several parents wrote a letter detailing their negative experiences in the city and the school district.

was included in the package for the Human Rights Commission meeting on Tuesday.

Six authors of the letter, calling themselves “Members of the Iowa City Indian Community,” demanded change in both the city and the school district around the treatment of Indians.

“It is the duty of our schools to educate our children with truth and compassion, as well as the duty of this city to stand up for justice and end racism,” he says. “When our children are taught false narratives in school and city-sanctioned activities, it is doing them harm. When they are exposed to disrespectful behavior, that behavior becomes normalized.”

The letter states that despite the city’s and school district’s intent to avoid anti-Indigenous activity, the structure of current teaching methods, which the group describes as a “non-Indigenous framework,” does not allow individuals to fully understand the influence of their beliefs and actions on the children and people in the city and school district.

Also,…