We can see the growing disrespect for "others" who are different taking deeper root in our society. It's not new, of course, but has certainly become more visible in the era of Trump. Too many people believe they have license to act on their rude and even violent impulses.
There is a theme in Traditional Native American belief systems, that can be summed up with an old saying: "The womb and the ancestor are the same thing." Thus, for some non-Indians, the disrespect for sacred burial grounds is the same as the disrespect for the living people. Does that make sense? Paul used to say that it is best to respect other peoples' cultures, even when you don't understand them.
Though it seems obvious -- at least to me -- the Democratic Party, generally speaking, has respect for differences, while the republican party does not. Surely, Trump's base is composed of white people who are very uncomfortable with the concept that they are not going to be the ruling majority forever. Life on Earth just doesn't work that way ….it's not Natural Law. And thus we see the ignorance of, and utter contempt for, Natural Law. It may be the desecration of a non-white grave yard. Or the refusal to grasp the obvious implications of our culture and climate change.
Those students were certainly not conscious of all of this. Yet that is exactly the danger: what is the likely outcome of the unconscious energy of 100 young men in a tense situation? And I'm not saying that only young men are violent. Every one of us has that potential. And surely, if there had been even one angry older adult with those students, egging them on, there would have been a terrible outbreak of violence directed at the most vulnerable targets -- for that is what group psychology dictates. Indeed, militaries and para-militaries have exploited this for thousands of years. Young men that age tend to do what the gym teacher wants.
As you know, in 1998 my nephew was attacked and left for dead in a dark field by a gang of 17 young men. These fellows traveled 35 miles with him as their target. They resented seeing a black high school student getting positive media coverage as a scholar/athlete. When three of the 17 were charged and went to trial, it came out that they called my nephew "a dumb ni___r" and informed him that blacks "don't belong here." When the judge, after hearing this, said he didn't believe race was an issue, we knew they would be treated very differently than if that same judge was hearing a case where 17 black men attacked a white student. I told reporters outside the court that this would lead to more violence by the gang members, and it did. Guns were fired into a house where gang members knew a black student was visiting a white girl. A junior high student had his skull fractured by a group hitting him with a rock. And Asian-American students at Binghamton University were targeted; one had his skull fractured in an attack.
Again, there is but a thin veil between civilization and savagery. And we need to step up to make sure it holds.
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