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Shame on the 76% of Cherokee voters who approved racist measure to kick out freedmen
By jmb | March 4, 2007
Muskogee Daily Phoenix: Cherokees vote out freedmen
Topics: Cherokee Issues, Social Justice |
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March 4th, 2007 at 1:30 am
Here’s a letter to the editor I sent to the Muskogee Daily Phoenix…
Dear Editor,
I am writing regarding the shameful outcome of the Cherokee Nation’s vote to expel the Black Cherokee Freedmen from tribal citizenship.
Many years ago, Cherokees committed the evil act of owning slaves. They did so despite their own experiences with oppression, and continued to do so even after the Trail of Tears.
The Cherokee may have been forced to free their slaves, but never really made it right.
The Cherokees of today should be righting the wrong of their ancestors but instead are continuing the perpetuate the evil of the past. The Freedmen deserve to be recognized as Cherokee people, who have made a significant contribution to Cherokee culture. (and frankly,they deserve an apology from the Nation and monetary reparations too)
I hope that the minority of Cherokees who still believe in justice will continue to fight in solidarity with their Freedmen brothers and sisters.
James M. Branum
March 10th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
[…] k — Nation shames itself with freedmen vote (a LTE written by myself) (see also this recent JMBzine post on the subject of the Cherokee’s mistreatment of the Freedmen […]