Stephanie Traversie-Baechler,
Watertown, SD.
Growing up in South Dakota, many experiences Native Americans have gone through are familiar to those that have been expressed by Blacks in this country. We, too, have endured racial profiling, high incarceration rates, unfair ticketing practices designed to provide financial gain to counties, and we have experienced deaths. I have always felt that South Dakota was really a state that migrated from the South. Racism is rampant across this state and has been for decades. My prayer is that Natives can become involved with standing up like the BLM movement. Many of continue to scream out in response to an unjust legal and political system in this state. We hope to be heard.