Slow down, stop racism, fight for equity
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
One day after the Leelanau County Commission voted 7-0 on a resolution to condemn racism—to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity, to assess the county government’s internal policies, and to participate in professional development—Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians tribal member Melissa Petoskey sat at a picnic table across M-22 from the Leelanau Sands Casino in the predominantly tribal village of Peshawbestown, and considered what steps the County should take next to combat institutional racism.
County commissioners Ty Wessell, Patricia Soutas-Little, and Carolyn Rentenbach (the body’s three Democrats) had reached out the previous week to Melissa, as well as tribal members Jim Petoskey (unrelated) and Holly Bird, African-American Marshall Collins, and Mexican-American Bea Cruz for input on the resolution. Melissa, and others, had pushed the commissioners to include the word “equity” rather than “equality” in the resolution’s final language.
(A cartoon that has gone viral on social media depicts equality as an adult, a child, and a toddler all standing on blocks of the same height to peer over a fence and watch a baseball game: the toddler is too short and can’t see anything. The cartoon depicts equity as the adult not needing a block, the child standing on one block and the toddler standing on two blocks: this way, all cheer as they watch the ballgame.) In the end, Wessell and Republican Deb Rushton reached a rhetorical compromise by including both “equity” and “equality” in the resolution.
The measure passed unanimously on August 18, one week after the commission failed to agree on the meaning of racism, with Republicans Rushton, Will Bunek, and Melinda Lautner sidetracking the discussion to talk about abortion and anger at police, and attempting to equivocate them with racism. Rushton also asked that the words “racial equity” and “social justice” be removed from any resolution. Widespread criticism followed the County Commission’s botched Aug. 11 discussion about racism. The whole thing was precipitated by former Leelanau County Road Commissioner Tom Eckerle launching a racist tirade and using the N—word before a road commission meeting on Aug. 4. Eckerle resigned several days later, but not before the County was tarred with negative media coverage nationwide.
“We have a geographic implicit bias right here in our county, where the highway was built upon a village,” said Melissa Petoskey on Aug. 19 as cars zoomed by on M-22, seemingly unaware that they were driving through a tribal reservation between Suttons Bay and Northport. Petoskey is the Human Resources executive for the Grand Traverse Band. “There’s no reduction in speed limit here. We’re the only village in Leelanau County without a reduction in speed.
“We have a community here. We have families with young children living near the road. For years people have been asking to have a reduction in speed,” said Petoskey, who also shared the concern with Wessell when he sought her input for the anti-racism resolution. “If you really want to make an impact for your resolution, helping to reduce the speed limit would be an action item. After all, what does it mean to be human and respectful to inhabitants if we can’t reduce the speed.”
Leelanau County government officials confirmed that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) would have to approve a speed change on the state highway. An MDOT spokesperson told the Glen Arbor Sun they had no knowledge of the tribal government requesting a speed reduction on M-22 as it passes through Peshawbestown.
“We were established as a village in 1840,” says Petoskey. “M-22 was built in 1919. We didn’t get federal recognition as a tribe until 1980 (the casino was built in 1984). M-22 was initially a dirt road, now it’s a highway.”
The highway through the village, and the way it makes the tribe almost invisible to motorists, could be seen as a tip of the iceberg that represents a painful history for Native Americans.
“I’d like to look at the impact of historical trauma on our community, how we’re passing trauma on to future generations, and how we can heal the injuries inflicted by racism,” said Petoskey. “One of the behaviors of historical trauma is that we minorities normalize people suffering. We see it happening in everyday life. We’re almost not shocked by it, we’re just waiting for it to be documented.”
Petoskey describes the everyday stereotypes that she and other Native Americans routinely face in the dominant American culture.
“When I went to Michigan State for college, I had a roommate from Texas who didn’t know that Natives still exist here. … I guess we’re viewed as historical figures.”
“My teacher in school once singled me out and asked for the Native American perspective on Thanksgiving. I said, ‘Don’t we all eat turkey?’,” she laughed uneasily.
“Here in Peshawbestown, people used to pull into my uncle’s yard and sometimes ask us, ‘Where’s the reservation? Where’s the casino? Where are the teepees, where is the smoked fish?’ We joked that we ought to open a store right there in his yard. … It’s funny now. But it wasn’t then.”
“We just want to be acknowledged.”
Antiracism trainings for County Commission?
Wessell confirmed that Petoskey raised her concern to him about the speed through Peshawbestown as an opportunity to resolve an example of institutional racism in the County. Wessell, who represents Leelanau Township (Northport) expects that antiracism training will be discussed at the commission’s Sept. 8 executive committee meeting.
One organization whose name has been floated to host antiracism trainings is Title Track, a nonprofit run by musician and activist Seth Bernard and tribal member and judge Holly Bird. Title Track’s motto is “engaging creative practice to build resilient social ecological systems that support clean water, racial equity, and youth empowerment.” Crucially, its antiracism training courses are delivered by people of color.
“I have to believe because there was 7-0 vote for the resolution that nobody will be surprised (by a push for antiracism training),” said Wessell. “There is a commitment to special development for the commissioners. The extent of the training, who’s involved, and who delivers it will be discussed. Everybody should be prepared to have training.”
Wessell regretted the commission’s botched meeting on Aug. 11 when abortion took center stage.
“Collectively as a commission it was not our shining moment,” he said. “A training should happen on a regular basis, at least until we can convince our community that we have our act together.”
Wessell added that he’d like to see the body eventually become more diverse.
“We ought to be recruiting more than just old white men and women for the commission.”
Above all, said Wessell, the body must be able to react quickly and firmly if a public official displays racist behavior.
“We need to have a plan in place where if someone violates the commitment, we respond right away. We don’t tolerate this.”
