Are We Not Entitled to the Same Protection Under the Law As Everyone Else?
One of the things I've been trying to do lately is write more about cloths and fashion.
Since my future now depends on selling merchandise, I thought it would be a good idea to concentrate my efforts by becoming more knowledgeable about fashion and blogging about it.
Surprisingly however, this is not the point of today's post.
Let me explain.
Earlier today my Brother-In-law sent me story link from the New York Times titled, 'Washington Steps Back From Policing Indian Lands, Even as Crime Rises.
' The article mentions that the federal government has cut the size of its police force in Indian country, reduced financing for law enforcement and had begun fewer investigations of violent felony crime, even as rates of murder and rape there have increased to more than 20 times the national average, according to data.
Crime on Indian land is 20 times the national average? I can't be reading this right.
From 2000 to 2010, for instance, as crime on some reservations surged by as much as 50 percent, the number of suspects on Indian lands being investigated for violent crime by United States attorneys declined by 3 percent, according to Justice Department figures.
So not only is crime going up, but the federal government is turning a blind eye to the problem by not prosecuting the people responsible for the rising crime levels.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which along with the Justice Department is responsible for law enforcement for 1.
6 million residents spread over 56 million acres of Indian country, distributed $322 million to tribal law enforcement programs in 2012, according to budget outlays.
According to the New York Times, the city of Philadelphia, which has a population of 1.
5 million and a police budget of $552 million, and Phoenix, with 1.
4 million people and a $540 million police budget, spend far more on public safety despite having smaller populations and less area to patrol.
(Phoenix employs 3,100 officers, while Philadelphia has about 6,400 officers.
) I ask where's the fairness in all of this? President Obama has called violence on Indian lands "an affront to our shared humanity.
" But according to the New York Times his administration has cut both the budget of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and spending on reservation law enforcement.
If this is true then this needs to be corrected.
I suppose it's easy for some of us to simply stay focused and concentrate on what impacts us directly.
The old saying, "if you don't see or feel directly then it's not my problem" holds true for a lot of people.
Unfortunately, I've never been one of those people to turn a blind eye to the problem.
A lot of shit happens on the rez.
I should know I live on one.
Yes, I want to write more entertaining articles about fashion and sell my cloths.
But it's really difficult to do particularly when I still read and hear about the injustices that are still occurring on our reserves in the United States and in Canada.
People we live in 2012.
This stuff shouldn't still be happening.
Our people are not second-class citizens.
Are we not in-titled to the same protection under the law as everyone else or are we?
Since my future now depends on selling merchandise, I thought it would be a good idea to concentrate my efforts by becoming more knowledgeable about fashion and blogging about it.
Surprisingly however, this is not the point of today's post.
Let me explain.
Earlier today my Brother-In-law sent me story link from the New York Times titled, 'Washington Steps Back From Policing Indian Lands, Even as Crime Rises.
' The article mentions that the federal government has cut the size of its police force in Indian country, reduced financing for law enforcement and had begun fewer investigations of violent felony crime, even as rates of murder and rape there have increased to more than 20 times the national average, according to data.
Crime on Indian land is 20 times the national average? I can't be reading this right.
From 2000 to 2010, for instance, as crime on some reservations surged by as much as 50 percent, the number of suspects on Indian lands being investigated for violent crime by United States attorneys declined by 3 percent, according to Justice Department figures.
So not only is crime going up, but the federal government is turning a blind eye to the problem by not prosecuting the people responsible for the rising crime levels.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which along with the Justice Department is responsible for law enforcement for 1.
6 million residents spread over 56 million acres of Indian country, distributed $322 million to tribal law enforcement programs in 2012, according to budget outlays.
According to the New York Times, the city of Philadelphia, which has a population of 1.
5 million and a police budget of $552 million, and Phoenix, with 1.
4 million people and a $540 million police budget, spend far more on public safety despite having smaller populations and less area to patrol.
(Phoenix employs 3,100 officers, while Philadelphia has about 6,400 officers.
) I ask where's the fairness in all of this? President Obama has called violence on Indian lands "an affront to our shared humanity.
" But according to the New York Times his administration has cut both the budget of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and spending on reservation law enforcement.
If this is true then this needs to be corrected.
I suppose it's easy for some of us to simply stay focused and concentrate on what impacts us directly.
The old saying, "if you don't see or feel directly then it's not my problem" holds true for a lot of people.
Unfortunately, I've never been one of those people to turn a blind eye to the problem.
A lot of shit happens on the rez.
I should know I live on one.
Yes, I want to write more entertaining articles about fashion and sell my cloths.
But it's really difficult to do particularly when I still read and hear about the injustices that are still occurring on our reserves in the United States and in Canada.
People we live in 2012.
This stuff shouldn't still be happening.
Our people are not second-class citizens.
Are we not in-titled to the same protection under the law as everyone else or are we?