Equal Rights For All

by Kerry Thomas

July 8, 2004

There is a nagging problem in America today, a problem that has it's roots in the very founding of this country. We do have two Americas, but not the two Americas the Democrats are talking about. No, the two Americas we have today are the Americas found on Indian Reservations, and the rest of America.

In some convoluted twist of jurisprudence, every Indian Tribe in America is somehow recognized as sovereign, allowed to draft and enforce it's own laws and regulations. Indian Tribes have been granted a special status, over and above what the rest of America is allowed to do.

Here in Wisconsin, for example, Indian Tribes are allowed to hunt and fish in ways the rest of us are not. They are allowed to operate casinos, while the rest of us are not. Nearly every federal financial assistance program has a special provision to make Indian Tribes eligible for the funding too.

As a non-Indian American Citizen, I feel like a second class person.

I would like to propose a possible solution to this problem. What I would like to propose is that instead of Indian Tribes continuing to be recognized as "sovereign nations" we unite this country, and, in effect, turn Indian Reservations into quasi-States.

I am proposing that every Indian Tribe come under the umbrella of the United States of America, subject to the full laws and regulations of the nation in the same way every State now is similarly subject. The territory of each Reservation would still be subject to the laws of the Tribes (just as the territory of each State is subject to the laws of that State's legislature), but the citizens of that Reservation would have to follow the laws of the several States when outside those Reservations, just like we have to follow the laws of the States when we go from one State to another.

The Reservations would still be subject to Congressional representation according to the current system, represented by the Congressmen and Senators of the Sate wherein the Reservation is located. Tribal Members would be subject to Federal taxation, but not State taxes, other than perhaps sales taxes outside the Reservation. The Tribes would be allowed to impose taxes upon the Reservation Citizens in he same way States may impose taxes upon their Citizens.

Tribes would not be allowed to purchase lands not contiguous to their main Reservation and then declare those lands as a part of the Reservation. A Tribe in Northern Wisconsin could not declare a plot of land in Milwaukee as part of their Reservation. The only way they could build and operate an off-Reservation casino would be to do so in a State whose Constitution permitted casino gambling.

Finally, the stick to encourage all this, would be the same one the federal government always uses: money. Indian Tribes would be free to accept or reject this new proposal, but if they do not accept it, they become ineligible for federal financial assistance in any form. And the federal assistance they are eligible for they must compete for on the same basis as the several States.

Let's admit it. The current way America views Indians and non-Indians is inherently racist, in favor of the Indians. I, as a non-Indian, cannot fish with a spear in the off season. I cannot operate a casino. I can't even apply for a casino license in Wisconsin, because I'm not an Indian. That's racist.

I would like to see an America where the color of my skin does not matter in the eyes of the government. Yes, we are all equal. But some of us are more equal than others.