Montana State Republican forced to apologize to Native Americans

[azndndude]

typical of most of the Republican mindset
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/01/06/news/state/35-maker.txt
here is an editorial condemning his remarks
http://indianz.com/News/2007/000801.asp

[liberalhistorian]

1. I live in South Dakota and I assure you that this is

child's play compared with the racist, bigoted attitudes toward native americans here, believe you me. I work on an Indian reservation and will be moving from Rapid City to here at the end of this month, and you wouldn't believe all the comments I hear from people about it. I wouldn't want to be an Indian in South Dakota for anything. As one of my clients told me last year, being an Indian in South Dakota is like being black in the pre-civil rights south. People in Rapid City are really open about their bigotry, too.

[LostinVA]

2. I have Oglala friends who live on Pine Ridge

And, your comparison is very, very apt.

[Sequoia]

4. Why do they hate them so much?

Still sore over Custer's loss, like the south and their civil war but more so? Custer was a jerk and that's being nice.

[havocmom]

6. From personal observation of folks where I live,

tends to be from people who are basically insecure and need to put some other group down to feel superior and stroke their own egos. I see it most in people who are too friggin lazy to look into why things are not going well, why they are not achieving what marketing says they should be getting, too damn lazy to actually think. Much easier to buy into racism, scapegoat the 'other' and feel like they are better than some other group.

Willful ignorance - just like bigotry in other areas. Encouraged, institutionally & culturally, because the fat cats at the top gain if the masses are busy hating each other and not looking at just how tilted the playing field is. If we didn't eat each other, we might decide to feast on the ultra-rich.

[azndndude]

5. Here in AZ and the southwest it is not too obvious

Native American culture is appreciated as a tourist draw and since there are numerous Indian reservations most people have been accustomed to seeing and interacting with Native peoples. Also the Native influence can be seen in the the art, architecture and culture of the southwest. Also most people that live here have moved from other states. There have been some instances of racism in the border towns recently.

[Virginia Dare]

3. They're just trying to keep up with the Virginia racist repukes..n/t

[political253]

7. It never ceases to amaze me...

how ignorant and arrogant this repugs are. I';ve worked for years on the Leonard Peletier yearly demonstrations and every time I've spoken with a repug all I got was obscenity and disrespect as to my issue. Not once did they try to learn about the issue!