Letter to the Editor: North Dakota Cultural Backwater

“Your institution has perpetuated a demeaning attitude toward Native Americans, and now you’re surprised that young people on your campus are causing you national embarrassment with their racism?”

Bernel Bayliss

I was born in Fargo, N.D. and received a B.A. from what is now MSU in 1972. In 1972 I received a full two year scholarship  from the University of Dallas to pursue an MFA, the terminal degree in my field.

After my first year I gave up my scholarship and left Dallas, due to an atmosphere of racism so pervasive as to be intolerable. The racism I encountered off campus was nauseating, the racism on campus was more subtle but pervaded to the point that it was simply the air they breathed, the water in which they swam.  There was little self awareness,vI was raised by relatively ignorant white parents who had love for all humanity. I was taught that respect for others was the base line. I was taught common human decency.

That North Dakota is the Alabama of the north shouldn’t be news to anyone with any experience in the state. I first heard Native Americans referred to as “prairie n******” in North Dakota, this was considered clever.

Your institution has perpetuated a demeaning attitude toward Native Americans, and now you’re surprised that young people on your campus are causing you national embarrassment with their racism?

You claim that their actions do not “reflect your community” when they clearly do.

Mark Kennedy says “we value diversity and inclusion” as  though saying the words will make them true. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your institution suffers the same lack of self awareness I encountered in Dallas, Texas, in 1972.

I first became familiar with your “community” in 1966.  In my experience access to beer, a sense of privilege, and athletics were valued far above academic excellence. In fact it was a matter of great pride when Playboy Magazine included UND in a list of the “top ten party schools” during this period. At some point in your history you lost touch with the goal of “higher learning” and turned it into a cartoon version of itself.

Your institution has had a role in perpetuating racism. To attempt to deny it now that it is making you uncomfortable is dishonest.

The only honorable course of action at this point is the immediate expulsion of racists, both in the student body and the administration.

It is poison that has the potential to kill us all.

Bernel Bayliss can be reached at [email protected]