Minnesota High School Creates Student Council Exclusively for ‘Indigenous’ Students
A Minnesota high school has come under fire for its creation of a student council exclusively for indigenous students, prompting a formal complaint from a parental rights organization.
Parents Defending Education (PDE), a nonprofit dedicated to combatting radical left-wing ideology in schools, has filed a complaint against Burnsville High School in Minnesota, alleging that the school is violating civil rights. The complaint, first obtained by The Daily Wire, asserts that the school’s Indigenous Student Council, which restricts membership to American Indian/Alaska Native students, constitutes discrimination.
“PDE makes this complaint as an interested third-party organization with members who are parents of school children throughout the country,” the complaint reads. “PDE and its members oppose discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, and political indoctrination in America’s schools. Burnsville High School is offering programming to affinity groups that is not open to all students.”
According to PDE, the school’s formation of affinity groups, including the Indigenous Student Council, is designed to provide students with “adult supported, safe space, around shared, lived experiences that empower voice and choice, counter to the previous practices formed and maintained by the dominant culture.” However, the Indigenous Student Council is the only group that explicitly states it is not open to the entire student body and requires students to be of a certain race/ethnicity to join.
PDE argues that this exclusionary practice violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federal funds from being used on programs that are racially discriminatory.
“If Minneapolis and its suburbs are any indication of where race relations in this country are going, I want no part of it,” said Caroline Moore, Vice president of Parents Defending Education. “This is unabashedly unconstitutional and the DOE should conduct a thorough investigation of racial discrimination in this district immediately.”
