(An historic suit is being brought against the State of Washington by a
coalition of 15 tribes in their *own* court. PEN-L's Jim Craven has been
deeply involved in various aspects of the case, from collecting historical
material on the definition of genocide to the economic consequences of
racism. I consider his involvement with this campaign to be a paradigm for
all progressive economists. The case goes to court tomorrow and we shall be
getting frequent updates.)
Jim's findings:
Racist attitudes, practices, symbols and caricatures are designed to
and/or have the effect of dehumanizing, ridiculing, objectifying,
stereotyping, debasing, devaluing, controlling etc the behavior,
social worth, estimates of self-worth, socioeconomic status and
political economic power of the target group collectively as well as
for individuals as members of a target group. Because so much of
economic behavior and returns from economic behavior depend upon
socioeconomic status and power/powerlessness of a particular group or
individuals within a group and perceptions of others about a
particular group or individual members of that group, some of the
documentable and measurable economic costs and consequences of racism
against Indians include the following:
1) Unwillingness of non-Indians to invest on Reservations, in Indian
education, in individual Indians or in programs designed to
educate/employ Indians and/or a willingness to invest only under
unconscionable terms or terms that do little if anything to improve
the conditions and self-sufficiency of Indians;
2) Wage rates and salaries for Indians bearing no relationship to
comparable worth or equal pay for equal work relative to pay rates
for comparable positions occupied by non-Indians;
3) Menial and manual labor, semi-skilled and low pay employment
reserved for Indians and professional, skilled and relatively high
pay positions reserved for non-Indians;
4) Programs addressing historical forms and consequences of
disenfranchisement of Indians typically underfunded, understaffed,
run by non-Indians and not directed toward addressing real outcomes
of significance to Indians and Indian issues;
5) Government programs, budgets and spending patterns primarily
palliative and superficial not reflecting a belief in the worth,
intelligence, employability or educational potential of Indians;
6) Industries and businesses on Reservations and other areas serving
Indians mostly non-Indian owned, employing Indians only in marginal
and semi-skilled or unskilled positions lacking the intention to
reinvest profits in growth and employment in the Indian areas in
which they are operating;
7) Tax revenues from Indian resources and economic activities
siphoned off by Governmental and private sources with little or no
returns (economic growth, employment, incomes, product diversity,
investment) given back to the areas from which the tax revenues were
siphoned off;
8) Non-Indian-owned enterprises on Reservations and areas serving
Indians carrying over-priced and inferior-quality foodstuffs
contributing to poor diet and adverse epidemiological trends among
Indians;
9) High-quality educators, professionals, technicians, programs and
enterprises unwilling
to locate or stay on Reservations or areas serving Indian people;
10) Indian-made products produced by low-value-added unskilled or
semi-skilled labor,
sold at prices and under terms and conditions unfavorable to the real
producers with real profits
accruing to non-Indian distributors, outlets and marketers who appropriate
the
largest percentages of total value-added;
11) Indians suffering low self-esteem that leads to willingness
to work for unconscionable wages, sign unconsionable contracts and
work under unconscionable conditions while being unwilling or unable
to enter and remain in educational programs preparing students for
skilled, professional and relatively high-wage jobs;
12) Lost potential productivity, competitiveness, economic growth,
economic development, self-sufficiency and sovereignty due to
climates and attitudes (Indian and non-Indian) that discourage
investment, dampen productivity, create/reinforce dysfunctional
family situations, high-quality and relevant education programs, new
enterprises etc on Reservations or areas serving Indians;
13) Precious non-renewable resources expropriated for non-Indian
enterprises and uses under unconscionable conditions, with
environmentally disastrous effects and under adverse and
unconscionable prices and terms of trade;
14) Lack of effective political representation for Indians and lack
of belief in the right of Indians to effective representation and
lack of belief in the potential benefits and desirable impacts of any
programs addressed to Indian issues;
15) Non-Indians inclined to foster and reinforce forms of corruption
and divide-and-rule in dealing with Indian authorities and issues;
16) Indian Reservations and areas inhabited primarily by Indians
targeted at dump sites for toxic and other wastes (out of 73 dump
sites targeted by EPA 72 on Indian Reservations and world's largest
stroage site of [leaking] deadly nerve gas on the Umatilla
Reservation in Hermiston, Oregon) causing/reinforcing all sorts of
deadly and debilitating diseases and medical conditions;
17) Indian Reservations and areas primarily inhabited by Indians
targeted by predatory non-Indian banking and financial entities seeking to
capture Indian savings and Tribal revenues at unconscionable terms
(low interest rates on savings and accounts holding Tribal revenues
contrasted with high even usurious interest rates on loans to Indians
and Tribes) with those banking and financial entities not investing
in the areas from which the funds held in accounts originate;
18) Economic growth and development on Reservations or areas
primarily inhabited by Indians at low levels, highly uneven and
disarticulated with meagre future growth and development prospects;
19) Indian enterprises are few, mostly relegated to tourism,
handicrafts or semi-skilled labor produced goods and services that
are highly cyclical and extremely vulnerable to the ongoing and
inevitable vicissitudes of the capitalist business cycle;
20) Indian health clinics grossly underfunded, understaffed and
overworked, non-Indian health professionals and services unwilling to
locate/stay on Indian Reservations or areas primarily serving Indians
with the result that adverse and deadly epidemiological trends are
continued/magnified causing lost productivity, significantly lowered
life expectancies for Indians, dysfunctional family and labor
conditions, high incidences of communicable diseases etc;
21) Lack of investment, productivity, employment and low incomes
driving Indian Youth and older Indians into prostitution, crime,
destitution, welfare dependence and other conditions magnifying the
overal destitution;
Jim (more to follow)
Louis Proyect
(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
