During the CSU incident, the unnamed white mother even admitted in her 911 call that she was probably acting paranoid out of concern about recent school shootings, even though the brothers weren’t carrying anything else with them to indicate a profile consistent with school shooters. None of those doubts stopped her from shifting blame onto teenagers for acting “creepy” and not answering her questions.



As Amber Gantt, a contributor to the University of Denver’s student-run newspaper The Clarion, mentions in her observations of this case of racial profiling, “Being uncomfortable around someone who is different from you is not a good enough excuse to call the police.”

After hearing about the incident and concerned for their safety, the boys’ mother, Lorraine, told them to come home to New Mexico immediately.

“It was one of their first experiences out into the real world,” she said in an interview with the Denver Post. Despite the apologetic messages, Lorraine is still not ready to talk to CSU officials yet. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) joined the Gray family to represent them and create a plan of legal action.

Across many Native American tribes— including Mohawk, Lakota, and Navajo—, being reserved and quiet is considered respectful, as children are taught to listen and absorb information before speaking.

“It’s not uncommon to have the students being really intent on listening to somebody as a means of learning and means of respect,” said Kara Bobroff, founder of the Native American Community Academy to the Associated Press. “It’s not a value to put yourself out in front of everybody, necessarily. It doesn’t need to happen to define success.”

This case of racial profiling highlights the cultural gap between tribal systems and mainstream American college systems where professors and other students are unaware of how Native American values are different from their own, and can misinterpret them as disrespectful or suspicious. As Native Americans only make up 1 percent of U.S college students—less than half finish a four-year university— there are few resources to establish a sense of community away from home or educate non-Native people on racial sensitivity.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Roy Taylor, a Pawnee man with a son who recently graduated from Pomona College, was not surprised by the caller’s questioning of the Grays’ presence. While touring colleges, Taylor and his son also received numerous questions from parents about their backgrounds.

“It was disconcerting at times and felt intrusive, but nothing of the scale of this woman’s intrusions,” Taylor said. “I think sometimes those parents, they believe that’s their way of being friendly. But it doesn’t come across that way.”

The escalation of intrusivity and misrepresentation has the possibility of becoming hostile.