NCAI Calls for Apology Over Racist Cartoon
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 4/22/2003
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has called for an apology from the Wisconsin Republican Party following the removal of a "racist and defamatory" editorial cartoon from a Wisconsin GOP-sponsored website. The cartoon depicted a tomahawk flying through the air at a Wisconsin taxpayer.The voiceover said: "As taxpayers, we got scalped."
The decision to drop the cartoon was made after the GOP received complaints from the Potawatomi and Democratic legislators. Potawatomi spokesman Tom Krajewski said: "What we've got is an image that comes from John Wayne movies which is not the whole story, and that is the definition of the stereotype."
Rebublican spokesman Chris Lato said the cartoon was intended to point out flaws in the gaming compact that Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle reached with the Forest County Potawatomi. Republicans who control the state Legislature have been feuding with Doyle for two months over the issue.
In a letter to the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tex Hall, President of the NCAI, stated that, "[h]umor is a reasonable way to approach the frustrations of political conflict—racist stereotyping and exploitation of cross-cultural tensions are not." After outlining the positive contributions Indian gaming makes to state and local governments, Hall ended the letter calling for an apology from the Wisconsin Republican Party.
"NCAI is committed to building strong relationships between state and tribal governments, regardless of political ideology. We are deeply troubled that the state of Wisconsin’s Republican Party has resorted to the use of racist imagery in the face of substantive disagreements at play within the state. On behalf of tribes throughout the nation, I urge the Wisconsin Republican Party to apologize for the cartoon and for its decision to make race an issue in this sensitive debate."
