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Low Turn Out By White Community Members To An Anti-Racism Education Workshop

Darrah Perez

Wind River Reservation resident Clarisse Harris was one of the 40 participants who attended the “Against Racism” workshop put on by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. She says she attended the workshop thinking even she could be racist, but after attending the workshop, Harris came away thinking she wasn’t.

Only six of the 40 workshop attendees were non-native, two of them from Fremont County. Community member Chesie Lee says she was disappointed more non-natives community members didn’t attend.

“As a white citizen of Wyoming I invite other white people to really get involved also,” said Lee, “because I think together and in supporting and listening to and being accountable to our Native American neighbors that we can change things.”

Wind River Reservation resident Evie Jimenez says she believes the anti-racism curriculum should be taught in Wyoming Schools.

“It would benefit the children, it would benefit the community as a whole and it would empower our people to stick up for themselves,” said Jimenez. “Wyoming is the Equality State so I think that they would want to strive to be equal for all of us.”

Darrah J. Perez is a freelance contributor to WPR and is a published native spiritual author. Her tribal affiliation is Blackfeet, Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone. She's also a reporter for Pitchengine and County 10 news. She lives in Ethete on the Wind River Reservation.
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