Gov. Kelly and indigenous leaders call on Kansas’ top public school administrator to resign over an offensive public remark about Native Americans.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly and indigenous leaders on Thursday called on Kansas’ top public school administrator to resign over an offensive public remark about Native Americans.
The department released the video of Watson’s 51-minute presentation during the conference. The offensive remark came about 42 minutes into his comments, during an extended metaphor that compared responding to the coronavirus pandemic to dealing with both a tornado and a hurricane. He joked about how cousins from California used to visit him in Kansas during the summer and were “petrified” of tornadoes.
“Commissioner Watson is responsible for guiding our future generation forward, but that cannot happen when he’s ignorant to the diverse history of our youth,” Rupnick said. Haskell Indian Nations University is in Lawrence. Northeast Kansas is home to four Native American nations: the Iowa, the Kickapoo, the Prairie Band Potawatomi and the Sac and Fox.
The special meeting comes at a politically tricky time for the board and the state’s public schools. While Republicans hold a 6-4 majority, the board is less conservative than the GOP-controlled Legislature.