President Joe Biden visited Arizona on Oct. 25 to formally apologize to Native Americans for decades of government-run boarding school systems that forcibly removed indigenous children from their families to assimilate them into white society.

The apology was historic, primarily because it was the first time the US government acknowledged its role in the displacement, persecution, death and subsequent multigenerational trauma caused by abusive boarding system.

But honestly, it was long overdue.

While that was a nice sentiment, it does nothing to atone for the damage done in the 150 years the schools were open – until 1969. An Interior Department investigation that called for an apology found that about 18,000 Native American children were removed from their homes, at least 973 died, The Associated Press reported.

Because of this – and because of the blatant political undertones of the apology, which was given to a low-turnout left-leaning voter population in a swing state just weeks before yesterday’s election – the motivations smack of red flags of virtue, determining many Native Americans. TO implore The president should follow his words with concrete political actions.

These calls to action are more than understandable given that Native Americans continue to face disparities in employment, income and education, according to Joint Economic Committee. Additionally, only 16.8 percent of Native Americans and Alaska Natives age 25 or older were earning a bachelor’s degree as of 2022, according to the U.S. Census. DATA.

Because of this, the US government should do more than offer belated political apologies.

The government should promote opportunities and education for and about those in indigenous communities, and academic institutions – like Loyola – should follow suit.

Overall, Loyola does a decent job of providing educational resources for students to learn about Native American communities. There is a terrain reconnaissance statement on every campus in the US decorated by an indigenous artist Buffalo Gouge.

The university also offers a reading list and resources for Native American Heritage Month on the library website, as well as occasional programming with Native American panels discussing “strengths and challenges” of indigenous communities.

Loyola even offers a few courses that focus on different aspects of indigenous and Native American culture in the social sciences and humanities.

While these different education and recognition strategies allow Loyola students to engage with Native American cultures in both historical and contemporary contexts, this does little to foster Loyola and Chicago’s Native American student communities.

Neighboring University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University, in addition to providing services similar to those described above, offer a variety of programming and resources with deliberate action plans—a necessary next step beyond acknowledgment, apology, and academia.

In addition to emphasizing “Native American/Indigenous inclusion and belonging” in their Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion websiteUIC also offers a wide variety of distinct resources for Indigenous students attending the university and living in Chicago.

These include a “Native American Task Force Report” which chronicles the history of Native American students at the university and recommends action plans. The report also includes a comprehensive list of university services for Native students, links to student groups, and listings of Native American professional organizations and Native American community organizations in Chicago.

Similarly, Northwestern had a Native American inclusion initiative of 2014, which aims to “create spaces where Native American and Indigenous people are heard, their identities are honored, and they can be successful members of Northwestern as well as good tribal and community citizens,” according to the initiative. mission statement.

The initiatives website also includes links to the university personal which specializes in Native American and Indigenous affairs, a bundle for prospective Native American and Indigenous students and a strategic strategy plan developed by the Native American and Indigenous Strategic Planning Committee.

While Loyola has some infrastructure to facilitate conversation with indigenous and Native American communities, a quick search of neighboring institutions’ websites shows how lackluster these frameworks are.

Loyola — like Biden and the federal government — appears to be focused on admissions and apologies rather than initiatives.

Only 0.1 percent of Loyola students identify as Native American or Alaska Native, according to US data. Given Loyola’s social justice mission — not to mention less than stellar history of Jesuit interactions with Native Americans — Loyola should make more of an effort to create accessible academic spaces for one of the most educationally blocked communities in the country.

Biden’s apology must be followed by action, and so must the recognition of Loyola’s field.

The nuanced need for this is best expressed by Seattle-based Bill Hall, a 71-year-old man from Alaska’s Tingit community who accepted Biden’s apology despite suffering years of abuse in a interned.

“As I was watching, tears started to flow from my eyes,” Hall told The Associated Press. “Yes, I accept his apology. Now, what can we do next?”