Editorial: Presidential hopefuls should visit S.D. for minority issues
By Editorial Board
Argus Leader
PUBLISHED: February 29, 2008
An Open Letter to Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama:
We haven't seen much of you here in South Dakota. These are the rules of the game, of course - our electoral votes are about the equivalent of Samoa or the Virgin Islands, and our timing, in terms of a primary election, is poor.
We've noticed that this year more than ever, it seems, you are tending to the interests of minority groups - tailoring your messages to attract one voting bloc or another.
Perhaps it's no surprise that you, Sen. Clinton, the first female presidential candidate of consequence, and you, Sen. Obama, the first black candidate with a real chance to inhabit the Oval Office, would go out of your way to appeal to those demographics so often ignored. Meanwhile, you, Sen. McCain, are fighting to broaden your base of support.
In this spirit, we're writing to invite you to visit South Dakota, specifically the Indian reservations that share this land.
Because even in an election year in which diversity has become more than just a buzzword, it seems those issues particular to Native Americans in South Dakota and around this region have been forgotten or ignored.
And Native Americans have unique issues and problems that demand special attention. The health care crisis fundamentally is different for Native Americans, of course. Tribal communities also often struggle with collapsing or collapsed justice systems. These are federal problems that will require your attention should you be elected in November.
Why come to South Dakota? Because it has one of the nation's largest Native American populations. Because its reservations are among the poorest. Because its Native American culture remains among the strongest.
Visit Pine Ridge, Sen. Obama, and talk to residents face to face about their struggles and successes. Stop at Wounded Knee and understand more fully how what happened there a century ago informs today's dialogue.
Travel to Crow Creek and Lower Brule, Sen. McCain, and talk about sovereignty and tribal gaming with the people who are best positioned to understand its value and its limitations. The keys to a casino, you'll find, aren't the same thing as a license to print money.
Make the trek to Crow Creek, Sen. Clinton, and listen to the devastating stories of so many young lives ended tragically, senselessly early by suicide.
There isn't much in the way of real policy or philosophy about Native American issues on your Web sites. In your speeches, even those in areas with large Native populations, you rarely touch on those topics.
Sen. Obama, your outreach to Native American voters has been richer than any candidate's in recent memory. But those issues that affect tribes in other parts of the country are not necessarily the same as they are in the rural, sparsely populated Upper Midwest.
You - all three of you - should come here if you want to understand that more fully.
One note of caution, though: If you do come, you'll have to forgive us if the people you meet in Kyle and Mission and Little Eagle treat any pledges of improvement you might make with some measure of skepticism.
A history of broken promises tends to have that effect.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080229/VOICES01/802290310/1162/VOICES01
By Editorial Board
Argus Leader
PUBLISHED: February 29, 2008
An Open Letter to Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama:
We haven't seen much of you here in South Dakota. These are the rules of the game, of course - our electoral votes are about the equivalent of Samoa or the Virgin Islands, and our timing, in terms of a primary election, is poor.
We've noticed that this year more than ever, it seems, you are tending to the interests of minority groups - tailoring your messages to attract one voting bloc or another.
Perhaps it's no surprise that you, Sen. Clinton, the first female presidential candidate of consequence, and you, Sen. Obama, the first black candidate with a real chance to inhabit the Oval Office, would go out of your way to appeal to those demographics so often ignored. Meanwhile, you, Sen. McCain, are fighting to broaden your base of support.
In this spirit, we're writing to invite you to visit South Dakota, specifically the Indian reservations that share this land.
Because even in an election year in which diversity has become more than just a buzzword, it seems those issues particular to Native Americans in South Dakota and around this region have been forgotten or ignored.
And Native Americans have unique issues and problems that demand special attention. The health care crisis fundamentally is different for Native Americans, of course. Tribal communities also often struggle with collapsing or collapsed justice systems. These are federal problems that will require your attention should you be elected in November.
Why come to South Dakota? Because it has one of the nation's largest Native American populations. Because its reservations are among the poorest. Because its Native American culture remains among the strongest.
Visit Pine Ridge, Sen. Obama, and talk to residents face to face about their struggles and successes. Stop at Wounded Knee and understand more fully how what happened there a century ago informs today's dialogue.
Travel to Crow Creek and Lower Brule, Sen. McCain, and talk about sovereignty and tribal gaming with the people who are best positioned to understand its value and its limitations. The keys to a casino, you'll find, aren't the same thing as a license to print money.
Make the trek to Crow Creek, Sen. Clinton, and listen to the devastating stories of so many young lives ended tragically, senselessly early by suicide.
There isn't much in the way of real policy or philosophy about Native American issues on your Web sites. In your speeches, even those in areas with large Native populations, you rarely touch on those topics.
Sen. Obama, your outreach to Native American voters has been richer than any candidate's in recent memory. But those issues that affect tribes in other parts of the country are not necessarily the same as they are in the rural, sparsely populated Upper Midwest.
You - all three of you - should come here if you want to understand that more fully.
One note of caution, though: If you do come, you'll have to forgive us if the people you meet in Kyle and Mission and Little Eagle treat any pledges of improvement you might make with some measure of skepticism.
A history of broken promises tends to have that effect.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080229/VOICES01/802290310/1162/VOICES01
