Dupage Policy Journal

Darien resident Noel Manley shared his disappointment with the Downers Grove Public Library (DGPL) Board for commencing board meetings with a “land acknowledgment” rather than the Pledge of Allegiance. 

The Pledge of Allegiance was not included in the agenda and not noted on the approved minutes which are both publicly available on DGPL's website.

“May I ask why the appointed Downers Grove Library Board begins its monthly board meeting with a politicized statement about native people instead of the Pledge of Allegiance?" Manley wrote in a letter to the Downers Grove Library. "As a person of native descent (Anishinaabe) I find it repugnant that this board makes an inaccurate, virtue signaling, gratuitous statement about native people before each board meeting while disrespecting the thousands of native warriors who serve in our nation’s Armed Services, with distinction and in numbers disproportionate to any group in this country, by not stating the Pledge. This is a shameful disgrace.” 

Manley called on the board to work on this concern.

 “I would hope that you can address this serious matter with the appointees to this board and remind them that the many native nations in this country should not be portrayed in a broad stroke as a single people," he said. "We are not the simplistic caricature ‘children of the forest’ that this board attempts to assert. Instead, we are sophisticated societies with customs and practices that are subject to the same strengths and frailties as any other society. In other words, we are human beings too.”

The Downers Grove Public Library land statement was read at the June 28 meeting by Board President Swapna Gigani. 

"We acknowledge that the Downers Grove Public Library sits on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral homelands of Native peoples. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Indigenous peoples who have been caretakers of the land throughout generations, past and present," Gigani read at the meeting. "We invite you to learn more about the genocide and forced displacement by non-Native settlers, and the ongoing injustices against Native peoples."

The DGPL's indigenous peoples' statement is similar to River Forest's “land statement.” River Forest Trustee Erika Bachner reads a “land statement” before each meeting. She and other board members opted to allow the meeting to start with the indigenous people’s statement rather than the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting even though the statement appears to some as significantly flawed, West Cook News reported.

The full Downers Grove Public Library Land Acknowledgment is available on its website.

The criticism comes after a dispute about the library's support of a late-night drag show performer who is scheduled to entertain kids there. Children in grades 7 through 12 are invited to attend a drag show that will be a part of a "Drag Queen Bingo" night at the Downers Grove Public Library. Drag queen Aurora Divine, who is best known for her late-night shows with an adult theme, will perform and host a game of drag queen bingo. It will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 11 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. 

In response "to the community’s feedback at large, clarify questions around the event, and identify misconceptions that are being spread throughout various outlets," DGPL issued a statement to the neighborhood last week in which it defended the event. 

The event is currently fully booked and it is expected seats will be filled by supporters and opponents of the event alike. Funding for the occasion has been supplied by an unnamed contributor, Daily Herald reported.

The next Downers Grove Library Board Meeting will be held on Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m, Dupage Policy Journal earlier reported.

With one seat open, the other Downers Grove Library Board members are Carissa Doughtery, David Humphreys, Barnali Khuntia, and Bill Nienburg.