Recently, after South Dakota's genocidal snatching of Native children received wide publicity, one of the state's newspapers saddled up and charged out in the best cavalry style of the Old West cinemas to protect the circled wagons of the Department of Social Services (DSS). The Mitchell, S.D., Daily Republic editorially asserted, "State wrongly demonized in ICWA debate." However, demon is as demon does. "If the shoe fits ... " or "If it quacks like a duck ... " But enough old-time maxims. There is no getting around the abominable illegal actions of the state in flagrant violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) or the fact that said state gets $70,000 for each abducted Native child. This journalist takes further particular offense at the paper's statement that "this controversy has become a glorified shouting match between adults."What? This canard trivializes a matter that is deadly serious - the genocidal forced assimilation of thousands of Native into white culture. This is no "glorified shouting match."Get the Story:
Albert Bender: Is South Dakota being “demonized” over treatment of Native Americans? (People's World 8/12)
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