I’d like to believe that, regardless of our personal political affiliation, most decent human beings were appalled at the incident which took place this past Saturday at the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington D.C.

Of course, the focus concerning this event was on the MAGA hat-wearing, Covington Catholic High School students from Park Hills, Kentucky; young men who, allegedly,  taunted Nathan Phillips, a Native American, a United States Veteran and a respected Omaha tribe elder.   Later media reports stated that a small group of militant Hebrew Israelites had engaged the high school students leading up to Nathan Phillips’s arrival at the event and there are now multiple sides to the story involved in this gathering.  The hapless, even divisive, actions of the mainstream media have created a situation of selective outrage with their deliberate and modified news reports.

If these students did behave as the media initially reported, there is no excuse and certainly no punishment harsh enough for any who were involved.  Many observers are citing that these young people need more “education”, but my personal feeling is that this measure of teaching respect and tolerance is something which should have long been instilled in these young people, at home, as well as throughout their private school years.   But, with the additional group involved in this event, which apparently was the catalyst for all of the behaviors involved, where has the media’s attention been regarding the derisive dialogue and slurs hurled at the high school students by the Hebrew Israelites?

I do wonder if these students were not wearing hats reflecting the leader of our present day, controversial, side of politics, would there have been such an uproar?  Would people still be embarking on Go Fund Me events to support Nathan Phillips or would everyone just bask in their righteous indignation, flooding social media with their commentary, and do little else in support of Phillips and all other Native American tribe members?

People band together to gather warm clothing for the homeless who live on the streets of our cities.  There are daily public outcries of how undocumented people are treated who enter our country illegally and they debate the measures suggested to curtail such passageways.    How many of these same individuals have taken the time to support our Native Americans who languish on tribal reservations without proper clothing, medical supplies and the basic necessities each of us takes for granted?

We now face the quagmire of finding out just where the true facts of this incident lie, orchestrated mainly by the bias of the mainstream media.  The selective outrage from the general public needs to move beyond the alleged inappropriate treatment of Nathan Phillips, beyond the focus on the alleged behavior of the Catholic high school students and toward the verified actions of the Hebrew Israelites.  The truth lies somewhere in between.