Pechanga Chairman "surprised" by his Racist Statement

Suprised that he couldn't hold his tongue is more like it. His temper is well known. I'm just trying to give my readers a sense of what tribal members were dealing with.

Pechanga chairman surprised by his 'racist' statement
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2003

Members of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians of California were meeting on Sunday to consider tribal enrollment criteria as part of an ongoing controversy over attempts to trim 400, whom some say can't show Pechanga lineage, from the tribal rolls.
Chairman Mark Macarro told The Riverside Press-Enterprise in a statement that the matter was a private matter. "What goes on internally at Pechanga is of no business to the white man, enrollment included," the paper quoted him as saying. OP: If that's true, then why do they have a white man, Murphy on their Tribal Council. He has NO Indian blood.

But according to the paper, he later called to clarify. "I think what I wrote sounds or looks a little racist, actually, and I'm even surprised by it," he said. He substituted a statement that eliminated the reference to "the white man." Wasn't the cow out of the barn already.

The tribe owns a casino. Each adult member currently receives a $10,000 per capita payment per month, according to the paper. OP: This was incorrect, the per capita was $15,000 at this time.