Sunday, May 6, 2012

Kristof weighs in on Oglala Sioux vs. Anheuser-Busch

Read Nicholas Kristof's column, "A Battle with the Brewers, in today's New York Times.  He takes the side of the Sioux in the matter I've discussed previously here and here.  Specifically, Kristof calls for a nationwide boycott of Budweiser to "wake the company up."  Kristof also mentions a possible solution that's been floated, about which I'd not previously heard:
One nifty solution, proposed by former Senator James Abourezk of South Dakota, would be for the Obama administration to extend Pine Ridge Reservations lines to include Whiteclay.  No land titles would change hands, but reservation laws would apply and liquor sales would become illegal.
It's an interesting idea, but it might ultimately only "kick the can down the road," literally as well as figuratively, if liquor stores are then opened at the edge of the new jurisdictional boundary, once again just beyond the reach of the tribe.

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