Cutline: Richard Braunstein, Chairman of the South Dakota Advisory Committee, chaired the recent US Commission on Civil Rights briefing in Rapid City.
Is there a civil rights issue in South Dakota?
By Karin Eagle
Native Sun News Staff Writer RAPID CITY — The disparities in how Native Americans and other minorities receive justice compared to the rest of society are finally being recognized as a serious civil rights issue. This is happening not only in South Dakota but across the country. The South Dakota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a public briefing to gather information from government officials and others regarding the administration of criminal justice in Rapid City and South Dakota on Wednesday, August 27. The briefing was held at the Black Hills Learning Center, a satellite campus of United Tribes Technical College, and was open to the public and featured several voices from the Native American community. Minority people, on average, tend to suffer more severe consequences and harsher sentences than whites. The final hour of the briefing was set aside for individuals to make remarks regarding their concerns about the administration of justice and how it impacts Natives and other minorities, their families, and the Rapid City community. The briefing was chaired by Richard Braunstein, Chairman of the South Dakota Advisory Committee. Melbert Siyo, Oglala, of Rapid City serves as the Chairman of the Mayor’s Human Relations Commission (HRC) in Rapid City. Siyo and Mayor Sam Kooiker spoke on the HRC, the procedures and the possible resolutions that are possible through the HRC. The newly appointed chief of police for Rapid City, Carl Jegeris, was also in attendance to give his comments to the commission about the perception of the relationship between his officers and the Native American community. Jegeris spoke about an internal review about the contact with minorities in Rapid City by the police department. The findings by that review show, according to Jegeris, that the high amount of contact between the police and the Native community centers around Native on Native crime. Jegeris said that an external review is being sought possibly through a state university in South Dakota if a funding source for that independent review could be obtained. RCPD officer Eric Dwyer spoke about the fact that he and his fellow officers would not stand for any racial profiling or any type of racism if they saw it. Dwyer commented that rather than be part of a police department that condoned racism he would turn his badge in and walk away from the police force. Whitney Rencountre, coordinator for the Ateyapi mentorship program in the Rapid City Area School District, spoke about the efforts within Rapid City Central High School to create a better understanding about the cultural difference between the various races of students represented in the schools. Rencountre recounted a difference he noticed at the most recent orientation and first day of school. Many of the Native students were quiet, seemingly shy and reticent; where as the non-Native students were more boisterous and vocal. Rencountre pointed out that neither was wrong, just different. Other presenters include JR. Bettelyoun, director of the Indian Education office in Rapid City and Tim Mitchell, school district superintendent. Sheriff Kevin Thom presented as well, giving information about the overall make up of Pennington County Sheriff’s department employees, informing the panel that out of more than three hundred employees, twenty were Native American, with ten being female and ten being male. The majority of the individual speakers who registered to address the commission spoke about the need for acknowledgement of the existence of racism in Rapid City, within the community and businesses as well as in the courts. For more information or to send your comments and concerns if you were unable to attend the briefing contact Malee V. Craft, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, (303) 866-1040, or Richard Braunstein, Chairperson, South Dakota Advisory Committee, (605) 670-0117. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with studying and advising the President and Congress on civil rights matters and issuing an annual federal civil rights enforcement report. For information about the reports and meetings of the Commission and its State Advisory Committees, please visit www.usccr.gov. Rocky Mountain Regional Office is located at Suite 1380 South, 999-18th Street in Denver, Colo. This regional office covers the states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is historically a bipartisan, independent commission of the U.S. federal government, created in 1957, that is charged with the responsibility for investigating, reporting on, and making recommendations concerning civil rights issues that face the nation. (Contact Karin Eagle at staffwriter@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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