"Folks who think Billings is absent of racial discrimination should have been at MetraPark for Billings Senior High School's graduation ceremonies where four Anglos refused to let four Indian people sit down.

The graduation exercises had already started when three Crow Indian women, one of whom was pregnant, and a Crow man, who proudly wore his Army uniform of service, tried sitting down in some balcony front-row seats. A white guy rudely objected, asserting he was saving the seats for friends. A female usher arrived and had words with both parties. Eventually, the Indians left. Having been down this hurtful road before, they chose to depart from this abuse that had been perpetrated on them.

The story could have ended there but didn't. I went down and sat among those empty seats. Nothing happened. For 15 minutes, I tempted the four Anglos to ask me to leave. No one ever said anything. Finally, having proved a racist point, I returned to my original seat."

Get the Story:
Michael Crummett: No room with a view of racism in Billings (The Billings Gazette 6/4)

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