First, I feel I made a mistake in both judgement and interpretation where this event was concerned. Here is CNN's updated account of what happened. It sounds like an accurate account, now that I've seen a lot more then just the under 4 minute clip that started the whole wave of outrage:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/21/us/maga-hat-teens-native-american-second-video/index.html
Second, I've either listened to or read about 5 interviews of Nathan Phillips. In the interview in the immediate aftermath, I found his raw emotion to be sincere. I don't think he was lying at all. He claimed to be scared. Was his fear justified based on the reactions of the students to his presence? I'm not in his skin, but I thought he gave his honest impression. As he walked forward, the kids parted a bit, until Phillips encountered Nick Sandmann, who simply stood his ground smiling.
Here is the complete statement by Nick Sandmann. It's worth a read. I find it impressive. I find it credible, believable, sincere. And that causes some self reflection on my part. Sandman states his smile was really just to disarm Phillips, to show him he had no intention of escalating a potential ugly encounter. Yet in the short clip that launched the outrage, I saw that smile as smug arrogance. So maybe it's me, seeing what I want to see. What I saw as smug arrogance could instead be seen as a calm, disarming smile:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/20/us/covington-kentucky-student-statement/index.html
So what did I see? A bunch of MAGA hatters harassing a Native American elder. Looking at the kids again, in that short clip, some might have actually been getting into the chanting. Some might have been caught up by the chanting. Not so hard. I've been to many powwows, I enjoy the chanting and dancing. Some of the kids may have been laughing at and mocking Nathan Phillips. That could very well be, and likely was, the case. But they're kids, and I've already made mistakes. No harm was done. I believe Phillips emotions were genuine, but these kids were exposed to insults and taunts from the black Israelites. Maybe the kids should have walked away then and there. But they didn't, they responded to the black Israelites, who, btw, were verbally assaulting the indigenous group, as well as the students.
The lesson for me. I saw what I wanted to see. Or, maybe to cut myself more slack, I saw what fulfilled my expectations. I expected a group of MAGA hatters to harass minorities. So that's what I saw.
I don't know to what degree the media is at fault here. They went with that short clip. But, they did take a deeper look, and revised their analysis. They acted to correct the record.
I think, in part, the incident exposed what hyper partisanship can do. I don't want to make more mistakes in judgement and interpretation, as I feel I did here. I've got to be more careful. I will never renounce my opposition to everything Trump stands for, but I've got to let what happened here be a lesson for me.
Edit: some might find this Washington Post article illuminating:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amph...78f092-1ceb-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html