A town leader in Charlestown, Rhode Island, is apologizing for an e-mail that accused the Narragansett Tribe of taking money that is "ours."
Katharine H. Waterman, the president of the town council, said her conduct was "inexcusable."
"It was very stupid, and I’m sorry for the people of Charlestown, and sorry for the council I serve on that I wrote the e-mail," she said at a meeting last night, The Providence Journal reported.
John Brown, a tribal member, confronted Waterman at the meeting. When she said she doesn't consider herself to be racist, he told her: "Most don’t. Most racists don’t."
In the e-mail to a town resident who is part Indian, Waterman said Narragansetts have "free health care"
and "free college tuition" and said they don't pay taxes oh the reservation, which was "gifted to them" [Text of E-Mail]
"And just for chuckles, try to use your rights to open meetings and access to public records to find out how much money (ours) they get through the Bureau of Indian Affairs! Never mind how much they get from those who would profit from exploiting them. But these reparations are paid today — by us — to folks who simply by accident of birth can claim Native American blood in some fraction," she wrote.
Get the Story:
Waterman sorry for e-mail, says gambling is issue
(The Providence Journal 7/11)
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