De-colonizing the Anchorage School District starts with this

The NAACP Anchorage believes the Anchorage School District, or ASD must de-colonize its educational system now. This work began with the passage of its new anti-racism and instructional equity policies on April 20 and must be followed by the immediate repeal of the school administrator permission requirement subsection of Board Policy AR 5127(b), Graduation Regalia.

Before we begin our critique of the ASD’s policy subsection, we must acknowledge that the policy itself would not have come about without years of hard work and advocacy by Alaska Native students and parents. Jacqueline Morris and Charitie Ropati in particular led this effort, creating a path forward to help ensure that Native students could rightfully represent themselves fully on such an important life milestone. Their labor should not be diminished in any form or fashion, but seems to have been interrupted by an ill-written subsection of the policy added by the school board which requires permission from what is often a non-Native school administrator in order to wear their cultural regalia for graduation. The policy’s subsection has negatively affected Jacqueline’s family this year. Her daughter Nyché Andrew is scheduled to graduate in May 2021, but according to the policy as written, she will be denied the right to wear her traditional Yup’ik headdress for her graduation ceremony. It is very demeaning for her or anyone to have to ask for permission to wear their own traditional regalia. This is not the first time the policy’s subsection has come under scrutiny, as it has received significant pushback from communities of color from the beginning.

In 2019, the ASD passed ASD Board Policy AR 5127(b), Graduation Regalia. According to this policy subsection, school administrators — and not Native elders or Native peoples themselves, determine what is culturally appropriate for graduation. What an insult. This subsection even goes on to say that the school district has unlimited “discretion and authority to prohibit an item that is likely to cause a substantial disruption of, or material interference with, the ceremony.” This is a perfect example of how racism gets embedded within the institution itself, as this policy gives school administrative personnel the ability to unlawfully discriminate against a student based on their race, culture or ethnicity.

The ASD’s new draft anti-racism and instructional equity policies can help navigate situations just like these. According to the draft anti-racism policy anti-racism is defined as “the practice of identifying, challenging, and changing the values, structures, and behaviors that perpetuate systemic racism, racial hatred, bias, and the oppression of marginalized groups.” The last part of that policy pertains to the issue at hand. The requirement of a non-Native school administrator’s permission is oppressive to our Alaska Native graduates. The anti-racism policy goes on to say that “the board will work with the Superintendent to identify and redesign any racially inequitable policies and procedures that limit academic opportunities.” The Graduation Regalia policy subsection is a perfect example of an inequitable policy and procedure as it limits the academic opportunity of Alaska Native graduates to graduate in their own culturally appropriate and chosen regalia.

The members of the ASD school board who added this subsection probably had good intentions, but they were wrong. This is what is called “impact vs. intent.”

For instance, some students and parents have attempted to wear symbols of hatred under the cloak of cultural heritage. These white supremacist gimmicks caused officials with good intent to produce actions with a discriminatory impact; such as curtailing peaceful symbols and attire like Native Alaskan headdresses, Kente clothes, hijabs or Black Lives Matter imagery in order to “justifiably” limit the display of despicable symbols such as Confederate flags or Nazi paraphernalia — impact vs. intent. We must not settle for this or accept the status quo.

This undignified and racist subsection of the Graduation Regalia policy must be repealed immediately. You cannot throw breadcrumbs at people of color and expect for us to think it’s cake. We should not have to bargain for our right to exist, either; physically, culturally, or otherwise. If the district wants to do right by Alaska Natives, then it must remove this cultural barrier altogether and allow zero restrictions on Alaska Native attire.

Kevin McGee serves as president of NAACP Anchorage. Danyelle D. Kimp is chair of the NAACP Anchorage Education Committee, as well as president and cofounder of the Alaska Coalition of BIPOC Educators.

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