Sovereignty… gaming and our public schools

Alan L. Maki September 8 at 1:08pm

Zachary; "Their" processes and procedures are not the issue... it was the Democratic Party and its politicians with devised these "Compacts" creating the Indian Gaming Industry. Obviously the tribal governments are not "sovereign" or they wouldn't have needed the Democrats as their accomplices in these crimes against working people. That the casinos are on tribal lands under tribal jurisdiction is a phony argument... the Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner and the FBI among other governmental agencies have jurisdiction over these casinos in many areas including making sure the slot machines are in "compliance." Certainly if the state can have jurisdiction over slot machine compliance the state can have jurisdiction over workers' rights. As it is now, casino workers have NO rights whatsoever... I am not aware of any other country in the world which enables any corporate managements to have such Draconian powers over workers... are you? In fact, the state and federal governments are involved in unemployment and Social Security.

In fact, when the truth be told, not one single Native American or any tribal government owns one single slot machine in the state of Minnesota... these tribal governments are just as corrupt as the state legislature... both are acting on behalf of a bunch of mobsters owning the slot machines and table games... the politicians at all levels are getting their "cut" in the form of campaign contributions often delivered in plain brown shopping bags completely unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, as we have seen up here in northern Minnesota, these casino operations are being used as major distribution points in the drug trade... the Chairman of the Red Lake Nation, Floyd "Buck" Jourdain is mired up to his armpits in the drug trade with his own brother recently arrested as one of the biggest dope dealers ion the world.

And State Representative Dave Olin has publicly acknowledged that during his tenure as Pennington County Prosecutor, the Seven Clans Casino, operated by Red Lake Gaming Enterprises, was a major drug dealing operation and he claims he did nothing because judges and "the feds" told him to keep his nose out of "tribal affairs."

At the point that these corrupt tribal politicians enabled these casinos to deprive working people of their rights and simultaneously (not coincidentally, either) became centers of drug distribution in this country they gave up any "rights" implied by "sovereignty" since it is widely recognized that no sovereign nation may use its sovereignty to deprive working people of their rights or to engage in illegal drug distribution.

You might be interested in knowing that Mr. Stanley Crooks of the Mystic Lakes Casino has had it inserted into the "terms of employment" that union organizing is expressly prohibited even though the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights is very clear on this issue: All workers have the right to form and organize unions to protect themselves and their livelihoods.

I would note that racism and political corruption go hand-in-hand... this is why it becomes so easy to understand why racism--- including in the public schools--- has become so rampant. Do you think that school boards whose members receive campaign contributions and whose schools are receiving "philanthropic gifts" from the likes of Stanley Crooks will not turn around and toe his line?

I have found here in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan that the school board members most hesitant to challenge racism are the recipients of campaign contributions from the Indian Gaming Associations in these states... check out the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association... with its millions upon millions of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians, we don't have one single Native American Indian sitting in the Minnesota State legislature... if this is not institutionalized racism at its very worst I don't know what is... and to think that this racism will not filter down into our public schools is very naive.

Just check out the Minneapolis School Board members, their relationship to the Democratic Party and how these school board members over the years have used campaign contributions received from the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association to advance their political careers.

The casinos are now a multi-billion dollar profit industry in Minnesota... an industry built upon racist poverty and unemployment which suppresses wages... workers receiving poverty wages are going to be poor--- something I am quite upset students do not learn in high school or university economics courses.

I am not satisfied with the current standing of public education which is being twisted to serve corporate interests--- including the casino industry; on the other hand, let us have specific and factual information so we can organize the kind of movement required to make sure the state and federal legislative mandates are being enforced.