Editorial: Questions for Mississippi Choctaws

Monday, October 1, 2007  

"The Jackson County Board of Supervisors, citizens and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians would have been best served if Supervisor Frank Leach had been allowed to ask his questions of Chief Beasley Denson.

On a 4 to 1 vote, Leach's questioning was cut off. The reasons given for muzzling Leach were that the questions were demeaning and disrespectful to Denson and the Choctaws. In some cases, that characterization of the statements and questions prepared for Thursday's casino presentation was on target. Still, the questions are in circulation and the Board of Supervisors' meeting would have served as an excellent forum for answering them.

By Thursday morning, prior to the meeting on the Choctaw casino-resort, it was apparent that a list of questions had been prepared that were not softballs. For instance, one question asserts that it appears the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians " keeps its people poor since in the original gaming compact negotiations the tribe asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs for no revenue sharing with its members."

The spin in that question seems obvious."

Get the Story:
Our Opinion Unanswered questions (The Mississippi Press 9/29)