"New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg still does not get it.

Back in August, he told a radio audience that he advised Gov. David Paterson to “get a cowboy hat and a shotgun” to resolve the issue of having sovereign Indian governments collect New York’s sales taxes on cigarettes. More than 100 New York Indians staged a protest at City Hall, calling on the mayor to apologize.

The Seneca Indians explored the idea of filing a formal “hate speech” complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice. The National Congress of American Indians and the United South and Eastern Tribes also weighed in, taking the mayor to task for his thoughtless, hurtful words.

The mayor himself would not respond to any of these events. Instead, he ducked behind his staff, who claimed he had said nothing wrong and had no intention to apologize or rescind his remarks. As far as the mayor was concerned, this controversy was much ado about nothing.

But the ado refused to die. At a Harvard panel discussion on live television Nov. 1 about the midterm elections, a student in the audience confronted Bloomberg about his remarks, giving the mayor an opportunity to belatedly acknowledge and atone for his insensitivity. This time, Bloomberg could not hide behind others to do his bidding.

Bloomberg again displayed his arrogance and his utter lack of respect for Native people. He uttered a classic non-apology apology. He does not regret making his comment – he regrets only “if” people were offended by them. Once again, Bloomberg hides, this time behind word-play and semantics."

Get the Story:
Ray Halbritter: Bloomberg’s ‘non-apology’ apology (Indian Country Today 12/6)

Related Stories:
Ray Halbritter: Shame on Indian Country for ignoring bigot speech (9/17)
Editorial: New York City mayor should apologize for 'cowboy' remarks (8/27)
New York governor condemns 'inappropriate' remark about tribes (8/26)
Column: Mayor alienates Indians who helped build New York City (8/25)
Editorial: New York City mayor must apologize for cowboy remark (8/25)
New York tribes continue meetings over state tobacco tax efforts (8/25)
New York tribes united in opposition to state's tobacco efforts (08/19)
Seneca Nation sues to halt state taxation of reservation tobacco (08/18)
New York mayor wants tribes shown the 'shotgun' for tax issues (8/16)