Columnist Anita Crane calls out our President Barack Obama and our Attorney General Eric Holder for their handling of the Cherokee Freedmen issue. (one that we've chronicled here often)
With his reaction to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, President Obama diverted attention from his ill-formed healthcare agenda by throwing racism into the mix. We all know how that turned out and since the American people were not silenced, Obama’s fans in Congress and media are trying to brand us as bigots. But when will pundits at the New York Times, the Huffington Post, and MSNBC question Obama’s part in a real federal case of racism?
Now, it look like Chad "OUR slaves were treated well" Smith is trying some end arounds our Federal laws. And maybe their HUGE donation helped the Cherokee Nation in this case.
Evidently, filing the tribal case in Raymond Nash’s name wasn’t pleasure enough for Smith and his collaborators. On Feb. 3, 2009 – the same day that Holder took his oath of office – the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma filed a federal lawsuit against Nash and four other black Cherokees, plus Secretary Salazar, in the U.S. District Court for Northern Oklahoma. Again Velie said the Cherokee Nation didn’t notify Nash or his fellow defendants, but he found out and took up their case. In other words, the unsuspecting black Cherokees could have lost rights for all Freedmen as soon as they failed to show up in court. Furthermore, Mike Miller, communications officer for the CNO, didn’t dispute Velie’s claim.
President Obama and AG Holder can provide justice in this case IMMEDIATELY. Why won't they? Don't be a COWARD Mr. Attorney General and Mr. President, you have a CLEAR example of racism in front of you. Unless you DO belive that because the Cherokee slaves WERE treated well, the Cherokee Nation deserves some special consideration??
Obama will not do a damn thing to help the Freedmen or any of the other wronged Native Americans,
ReplyDeletethese corrupt Tribal Leaders and their well paid Lawyers have him in their pockets and they know it.
What floors me is that all who have voted for him expect miracles.
He is a Politician and sways both ways, get used to it.
You all have a chance to vote him out next time around, state the reason why you will not support him again and blog about it.
I am sure that his "ADVISORS" read
the blogs.......................
Well here is my vote
"Sir,you had your chance and now its time to leave this office
BY,BY"........................
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ReplyDeleteMANY DITTOS, STAND YOUR GROUND.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehand him his disenrollment letter.
ReplyDeleteOne of his conditions for gaining support from tribal governments and Indian lobbyists was to roll on the Cherokee Freedmen and that is what he did. He doesn't seem to have a problem in rolling on any Black person or Black issue that threatens his political status, no matter how right or wrong it may be.
ReplyDeleteSaying that the Cherokee are dealing with it means nothing. It wasn't the Cherokee government that was having the problem, it was the Freedmen Descendants.
That's like saying the Pechanga enrollment committee is dealing with the problem of dis-enrolled Pechanga citizens, so we'll just stay out of it.
If the tribal governments themselves can not be held accountable for their Human and Civil Rights violations, then the government that claims federal jurisdiction over the tribes must be held accountable. I suppose he thinks the full extent of the dis-enrollments is embodied in the Cherokee Freedmen, Washington D.C. needs a seriously rude awakeneing to the full human impact that the dis-enrollment. They, Obama included, are as culpable as the tribes as long as they support the governments that commit the human rights violations.
The honeymoon is over.
I didnt see Bush helping any of you either...how about the ACLU?..or NAACP?...they havent done much either...have you gone to Dateline?...they seem to get attention...
ReplyDeleteTrue, Bush didn't do anything and he was approached about the issue.
ReplyDeleteHis administration however, through the BIA, came down real hard on the Seminole for the exact same deed. Echohawk, given the same time and opportunity that Bush's Asst Sec,s of the BIA had, may also rise to such a level for the Freedmen Descendants and all dis-enrolled tribal members, time will tell.
The NAACP has taken a firm stance in support of the Freedmen Descendants but like I said, everyone has to see the bigger picture of tribal dis-enrollments a Human Rights problem, regardless if the tribal members is of African descent.
I don't know what the ACLU's stance is on the Freedmen Descendants and again I would hope they as well would address the larger picture as well as the Indian Civil Rights Act. That one act should be right in their vein of interest.
As for Dateline, I don't feel this is an issue that can be decided in the court of public opinion. The laws regarding specific rights are " written in stone" so to speak such that public opinion by itself is not as good as enforcement. Public opinion however may be invaluable for laws that may be needed but are yet written. this is what some of the Eastern tribes are looking for with the legislative fix over the Narrangansett tribe trust land issue.
Public Opinion is always valuable! Look what is happening to the healthcare bill, we certainly need it, but the voices n spin of one party is ruining the bill. You need as many voices as you can get. The voices and uprising at the town hall meetings is fast curtailing the Health Care
ReplyDeletebill, Voices and People get ATTENTION! Don't ever doubt that! If you sit on your duff and quietly negotiate, you are going to get nowhere fast. No, that is not our society these days, you get to get your message out there loud and clear. You got to do what OP is doing here on this blog. You got to do the ground work and never stop. Politicians will listen if your loud enough and you get enough support. If your mousy n don't speak up often enough, if you don't get people to see your plight, you get nothing but lip service from politicians, cuz they know your going to quietly blog about it and not put them on big time blast! The politicians do not care about 100 or 1000 people, that means little to them in votes. They need to hear the masses b/f they upset their donors like Pechanga, etc. So get out there and sway the American Public's opinin to believe in your plight, tell the truth, tell it loud & often, and then you will get somewhere. JMT
Using all our efforts to show what has become of Indian Country with tribes like Picayune, Pechanga, Redding, San Pasqual is a must for ALL of our, our spouses and we need to enlist our friends help too.
ReplyDeleteCalling attention to these matters is the ONLY way to keep it from getting swept under the rug easily.
Remember, it causes tribes to expend their influence and funds to defend their despicable actions. With us, we just need to spend time and energy.
Loud and often is the key.
I totally disagree with Albert Lee...Dateline would draw great attention to your massacre...its hard to read through all his technical mumbo-jumbo and figure out what the heck he is trying to say...it many times seems like long winded double talk....the same double talk the tribes use...millions of people watch Dateline and 60 Minutes...that would help immensely with this civil rigts issue....soory to disagree Mr. Lee.
ReplyDeleteInteresting disagreement and I can certainly handle it. In fact I see the logic in some of my detractors.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem in public opinion for any Black person is that they are accused of playing the "race card" and dismissed.
The Prof. Gates profiling incident brought more havoc on him and Obama then what they were ready for. If anything, it set the fight against racial profiling back because the racial issue overshadowed the issue of equal treatment and due process.
Public opinion can go both ways. The Pechanga dis-enrollees had several good news spots covering their plight and it has not budged the Pechanga Tribe one iota, in fact it, entrenched them and helped them co-ordinate other tribes and sympathetic Californians to be more supportive and successful in dis-enrolling their members through the cry of tribal sovereignty.
There are times when public opinion can not be the ultimate answer to justice, especially when it comes to the rights of an individual. Majority rule can be very harmful for the individual.
It's been my experience that unless the issue directly affects the public you solicit, they may wish you well but they won't get involved in it.
Native Nation dis-enrollees are unique to the American public at large. For one thing, no American citizen is being threatened with losing their citizenship, so they have no direct interest in the issue, and a fair number of those people still want all Native People to just be Americans and be done with it.
That was one of the major points to Obama getting elected, that Black people would finally just be American citizens and the whole race thing would be done with, I think "post-racial" is the coin phrase.
Public opinion is important if a law is in need of being created or changed, but to enforce an existing law, public opinion should have little influence.
That's my opinion, your welcome to disagree with it. I still support your rights.
We HAVE budged the Pechanga Tribe, Mr. Lee.
ReplyDeleteWe HAVE forced them to spend $50 Million to defend their propositions because they weren't confident that the public was on their side. Agua Caliente spent $14 Million.
Many of the other tribes do not like, nor respect Pechanga for what they have done to their people and for how they act at other organizations like CNIGA.
One more straw for this camel...
Fair statement "O Pechanga, every straw is important.
ReplyDeleteYou know I've always wondered if anyone could actually convince those tribes to take an official public stance as tribes against the dis-enrollment practices.
I still think that would be the greatest statement in Indian country being tribes speaking out as sovereigns against the violation of human and civil rights of tribal members.
I have never seen any official list of tribes or even one tribe take an official stance against the dis-enrollments. I think it is needed.
Speaking of straws, Eli Grayson has been posting this information on other sites and I thought the readers here would want to know about it. The outcome of this debate may have a huge impact on public opinion but I think it will be one focusing on the legal specifics of Cherokee Freedmen Rights for other legal professionals.
"Federal Bar Association debate the Freedmen issue
August 25 2009 at 8:05 PM Eli Grayson (no
The 2009 Federal Bar Association Annual Meeting and Convention to host debate between Professor Charles Ogletree and Chad Smith on Thursday Sept 10th in Oklahoma City....
http://www.fedbar.org/OK09_schedule.html
Professor Charles Ogletree has been a consultant to Congressman Barney Frank on the Freedmen issues."
http://www.network54.com/Forum/237458/message/1251248740/Federal+Bar+Association+debate+the+Freedmen+issue
Mr. Lee, Pechanga and other crooked tribes would have been bold about disenrollments no matter if we have had good news spots profiling what happened to us or not.
ReplyDeleteThe difference would be that very few other people public officials or private citizens, especially public officials who make or enforce policy or law, would know a thing about what happened to us.
Going public about our plight did not contribute to the oppression against us but if we do or say nothing, than we would be contributing to that oppression.
'aamokat,
ReplyDeleteThat does bring to mind the fact that so many Congresspersons and Senators were completely ignorant of what an Indian Freedmen tribal member was. There is a romatic history about "Black Indians" , but not many people understand the facts about African descent tribal members. Once they were made aware of the facts, a contest was on to try to educate them as quick as possible because the other forces launched a plethora of false information about Indian Freedmen.
Those who have been exposed to as many truthful facts as possible have been able to make the correct decision. Those who have not, like Inouye for example, continue to contribute to the problem with their lack of knowledge.
I think Obama's initial position regarding the Cherokee Freedmen was due to his full lack of knowledge regarding Indian Freedmen. His position may have changed since the election , perhaps due to the fact that he has learned more from others.
I think your point is the more "numbers" of people that know the truth, the better the chances for a resolution, but I just have to hope that more people care or can handle the truth. I guess our only responsibility is to get it out there, how people handle it is up to them.
I see the merit in your position.