Black, Native American high school students denied diplomas for wearing ethnic dress at graduation

Jet, June 10, 1996

Two Black high school students in Muskogee, OK, who wore a multicolored African tribal cloth with their graduation gowns and an American Indian who hung an eagle feather from her mortarboard were recently denied their diplomas.

The school district said they violated a policy against wearing ethnic symbols at graduation.

The district is withholding their Muskogee High School diplomas and transcripts until they complete 25 days in summer school as punishment.

"I'm not going to be defined by the White man anymore," said Danaj Battese Trudell, an American Indian.

Trudell and the two other students, Garrica Johnson and Sydney Watts, are seeking the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) help.

"We do feel these young ladies have had their rights violated," said ACLU lawyer C.S. Thornton, who plans to meet with the students and the district.

A Muskogee Schools spokeswoman said the school board approved the dress code May 14 to restore dignity to a ceremony that had taken on "a carnival quality." Students participating in the recent graduation ceremony were required to sign a statement saying they understood the dress code.

Approximately 30 percent of the high school is Black, and 16 percent is Indian. Nearly 300 seniors participated in the graduation ceremony.