Armed protesters raided government property and stayed there for forty-one days, threatening police officers and the FBI, while they claimed to be fully prepared for a “bloody” revolution.[1] They were acquitted, and no military personnel showed up to shut them down. In another part of the nation, hundreds of protesters in North Dakota were arrested. The reason? – Refusing to comply with police officers and employing various “aggressive” strategies like using “horses.”[2]

It’s quite easy to spot the imbalance in police response. Using a horse is aggressive and warrants getting pepper sprayed and arrested, while armed rebellion is simply “patriotic”. The one necessary fact left out of the above description is that one situation involved a group of White protesters, while the other group was supporting the opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in Standing Rock.

The goal here is not to convince you that white privilege exists. The evidence is clear that there exists a double standard in our criminal justice system that tends to favor White people. Rather, I’m going to turn my full attention to how people in positions of power are responding to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, specifically, the mainstream media.

On Saturday, CNN decided that it would donate some time to discuss the protests occurring in North Dakota, in an article by Jessica Ravitz, titled “Not All The Standing Rock Sioux Are Protesting the Pipeline.”[3] As you will soon see, I agree with certain aspects of the article, but the way in which some information was reported and some left out does a disservice to the Standing Rock Sioux who are experiencing massive human rights violations.

First, let’s talk about CNN’s silence on this issue. While the peaceful protests have been going on for months, CNN has been notoriously silent on the reasons behind the protest and the police response to these protests. In the month of October they reported the story of a White actress being arrested at the protests[4] and the police officers’ points of view from the day 114 protesters were arrested. What was missing? The point of view of those who lived on the land, those whose sacred grounds were on that land, and those who were brutalized by the police were left out. That’s not even to mention that the article on Shailene Woodley, the White actress who was arrested, was filed away under “Celebrity Watch”. This story couldn’t even make national news for CNN. You know what did? A “new” obsession with flipping bottles amongst kids – and it got a full video.[5] Just last week, while many considered Standing Rock to easily be the top story of the week, CNN decided that all of four of their top articles should be dedicated to the World Series.[6] This prompted protests from various Indigenous groups toward CNN in Hollywood.

Onto the article itself, Ravitz’s first claim is that for most of the Standing Rock Sioux, the protesters are an inconvenience. More specifically, Ravitz claims that the Standing Rock Sioux are “not even close” to being united over these protests. To warrant this claim, Ravitz cites an interview with Fool Bear, a resident who agrees that the protesters are usually not from the area and take up space themselves.

There are very easy responses to be made here. The first is that it simply is not true that the Standing Rock Sioux, as a unit, are not united against the Dakota Access pipeline. In fact, the leaders of the tribe are so set in their goals that they vowed to continue protests throughout the winter.[7] In the same statement, the tribe leaders also vowed that they would work to provide shelter for protesters there in opposition to the pipeline. This proves unity that solves the problem Fool Bear was concerned about, which was that protesters would need shelter during the winter.

Furthermore, in that same interview with Fool Bear, they claimed that the Standing Rock Sioux and protesters have only recently come forth in their opposition against the pipelines. Additionally, they claim that the Standing Rock Sioux would have been at the town hall meetings since the first proposal of the pipeline. The problem is that that’s exactly what happened. The Standing Rock Sioux have been united in their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline since its announcement in 2014.[8] When taking into account the perspectives of all of the Standing Rock Sioux, there are various facts that verify, contrary to CNN’s claim based on an interview with one person, that they are united. CNN’s argument is a classic example of why this type of inductive reasoning fails.

On a side note, Fool Bear’s concerns are completely legitimate. My argument is that these concerns were simply reported in the wrong way. In the same interview, Fool Bear points out how protesters from the outside have inconvenienced him. I, like CNN, am in no position to invalidate an indigenous person’s opinion on problems concerning indigenous people. However, in reporting stories concerning indigenous people, it is necessary to include all perspectives, which I claim that CNN failed to do. Therefore, it is necessary that I take Fool Bear’s position on protesters being a nuisance into full consideration. CNN attributed this problem with protesters to all protesters. However, it is clear that these protesters are simply the allies traveling to North Dakota. These allies are not good allies when they do not respect the space of those who are being oppressed, specifically natives.[9] To solve this issue, and to take Fool Bear into consideration, allies need to listen to the Indigenous people leading the protest. Allies are not to be the face of the protest and they are not to take up space.

At this point, Ravitz moves on to two others who have differing opinions on the protest. While some may consider taking into account the opinions of Indigenous people who are in support of the protest a step in the right direction, my claim is that it is not nearly sufficient to give the audience a full picture of what is occurring. Over three hundred tribes are protesting in North Dakota. The Standing Rock Sioux have come out and demonstrated that they are, for the most part, completely unified against the Dakota Access Pipeline, yet the only article concerning this issue does not discuss any of this. The largest Cable news network does not talk about police treatment of protesters, nor do they report the point of view of those on the side of the protesters, opting instead to give the police officers’ skewed perspective. However, the video evidence is clear; peaceful protests were met with a harsh military response.[10] Not only did the police arrest those who were complying with unjustified orders, but they were also strip searched, thrown into solitary confinement and denied basic necessities such as food and water for over eight hours. In another instance, from a police standpoint, a native religious tool was seen as a bomb.

Yet, CNN has yet to mention a word.

The continuation of the mainstream media’s silence serves to ensure that Americans continue to be unaware of the injustices our own country is inflicting upon Indigenous people. When the stories of Indigenous people are not shared, we become compliant in the continued stealing of their land, exploitation of their people, and contamination of their water system. Due to the exclusion of opinions of many Indigenous tribes, false information, and complete dismissal of facts regarding issues facing the same Indigenous tribes, Ravitz’s article demonstrably keeps violence against Indigenous people in fashion, just like the bottle-flipping craze they loved reporting on instead.

[1] CBS, Associated Press; “Oregon Militia Standoff Takes a Deadly Turn; Ammon Bundy, others Arrested;” (January 27^th, 2016); CBS; Accessed October 30^th, 2016;http://www.cbsnews.com/news/violence-as-move-made-...

[2] Thorbecke, Catherine; “141 Arrested at Dakota Access Pipeline Protest as Police Move In;” (October 28^th, 2016); ABC News, Accessed on October 30^th, 2016;http://abcnews.go.com/US/tensions-mount-protesters...

[3] Ravitz, Jessica; “Not All The Standing Rock Sioux Are Protesting the Pipeline;” (October 29^th, 2016); CNN, UPenn, Accessed October 29^th, 2016);http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/29/us/dakota-pipeline-s...

[4] Melas, Chloe; “Shailene Woodley Arrested For Criminal Trespassing;” (October 11^th, 2016); CNN, Standing Rock, Celebrity Watch; Accessed October 30^th, 2016;http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/10/entertainment/shaile...

[5] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cnn/videos/10155529707931...

[6] Cartwright, Zack; “Native Americans Protest Outside CNN Demanding They Stop Ignoring Standing Rock;” (October 29^th, 2016); US Uncut, Resistance, Accessed on October 30^th, 2016; https://usuncut.com/resistance/keep-it-classy-cnn/

[7] Simpson, Ian; “Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Vows to Fight Dakota Access Pipeline Through Winter;” (October 29^th, 2016); Huffington Post, Politics; Accessed on October 29^th, 2016;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standing-rock-...

[8] Worland, Justin; “What to Know About the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests;” (October 28^th, 2016); Time, Politics, Magazine; Accessed on October 30^th, 2016;http://time.com/4548566/dakota-access-pipeline-sta...

[9] Deerinwater, Jen; “5 Things Every Non-Native Needs to Consider Before Visiting Standing Rock;” (September 27^th, 2016); Matador Network; Note: These are the voices of Natives, I am simply elevating their opinion; Accessed on October 30^th, 2016;http://matadornetwork.com/change/5-things-every-no...

[10] Hafiz, Jihan; “Video: Police Viciously Attacked Peaceful Protesters at the Dakota Access Pipeline;” (October 25^th, 2016); The Intercept, Video, Dakota Access Pipeline, Accessed October 30^th, 2016;https://theintercept.com/2016/10/25/video-police-v...