Happy Cinco de Mayo

From Pax Plena to you, here's wishing you a Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Er...  "Cinco de cuatro!"

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by Tory on Tuesday, May 05, 2009
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5 comments:

Christopher Mallow said...

Speaking of ethnic-related blunders, I'd be interested to hear your take on this story, Tory:

http://newsok.com/boren-cole-denounce-call-for-freedmen-inquiry/article/3367076

What do you think?

7:16 AM
Tory said...

This really is a great example of legislators, and former tribal members confusing civil rights with Federal Indian Law.

Congress and the Supreme Court long ago provided tribes the authority to govern their own affairs - including membership. And the freedmen are descendents of black slaves who should never have been admitted on to the Indian roles to begin with.

What Congressmen Cole and Boren said pretty well sums up my views on the matter.

Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, called the request "an affront to tribal sovereignty.” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, said it was "abhorrent and unfair.”Another interesting part of the issue is that Congress alone wields the power to fix the situation - assuming the situation needs fixing. The Attorney General would probably like to conclude that the tribes have acted in violation of some civil rights law (most AGs have historically loved a good civil rights battle), but many of the civil rights laws were written to apply to the tribes differently than they apply to the States or the Feds.

For instance, Indians have a hiring when they apply for jobs in some agencies that relate to Indian affairs, and the Indian Reorganization Act that gives tribes the authority to set up their governments tends to allocate membership decisions to the tribes alone (in other words, Congress and the Feds have opted to step out of internal matters related to tribes).

On the other hand, Congress can write new legislation forcing tribes to take the Freedmen back on to their roles. The Constitution grants Congress exclusive, or 'plenary power' over the tribes and limits the Executive Branch's influence over Indian affairs to enforcing the laws that Congress creates. Go figure those checks and balances.

Anyway, my personal forecast is that the AG will conclude that Congress has the power to force the Cherokees to take the Freedmen back if Congress wants to take up their plight, but that nothing illegal occurred. This is roughly what the courts have concluded in recent years. Naturally, such a finding is just going to create a headache the Democrats don't want to deal with.

Politically, it would upset their diversity groups too much, pitting Indians against Blacks with the Dems left to play referee. None of them want to go down that road, and I suspect the matter will eventually go away...

Ethnic-blunder, indeed.

5:34 PM
Christopher Mallow said...

Adding some depth to the first article was this original article:

http://newsok.com//article/3366850

and this quote from it in particular:

In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder last week, the six lawmakers say, "The illegal actions of the leadership of the Five Tribes, some of which are the wealthiest tribes in Indian Country, have resulted in the freedman's inability to access federal benefits and programs, totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually, in the areas of housing, education, health and public works."THIS really shows what the true Freedmen's complaint is, "we're not getting any of that sweet, sweet dough-re-mi!! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!" I respect the position of these minority legislators and their continuing willingness to fight for their people, but frankly, this sounds a lot more like reparations. I am beginning to tire of the phrase "civil rights" reading as, "we're taking your money."

I'm also disappointed that despite the hope-and-change rhetoric, these legislators waited for the black President and black AG to force this issue, which has obviously been going on for decades. Sounds like hope and change to me.

7:59 AM
Tory said...

The quote you cited really is telling. It's all about the money.

The funny thing is, if Obama's healthcare plan goes through there won't be much left for the Freedmen to complain about. Minority groups - Blacks & Indian included- have a bevy of housing, education and public works dollars available to them. The biggest difference is the Indian Health Service which originated from treaty obligations between the feds and the tribes way back when. But with universal healthcare there will be little difference in the benefit programs available.

10:29 PM
Christena said...

Lovely photo thanks for sharing .,.,.,.,


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4:24 AM

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