"What in the present atmosphere of the Anglo American existence makes it acceptable for someone to ridicule, demean and dehumanize non-Anglo people and then try to justify what they have said as “humor”? This humor, at the expense of blacks, Jews, gays, Indians, Muslims, Catholics, Irish, Hispanics, Asians or just about anyone who is different, seems to be a legacy passed from generation to generation that is so ingrained that it slips off the tongue or the keyboard lubricated by the notion that one’s race gives privilege to demean and dehumanize others.

Patrick Rogers, a National Republican Committeeman, and a partner in the New Mexico based law firm of Modrall Sperling, (a firm high up on the Republican food chain on a state and national basis.) thought that it would be appropriate to send out an Email blast expressing his opinion that New Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez (Republican) violated the sacred memory of General George Armstrong Custer by meeting with the New Mexico Tribes. He was referring to a recent Tribal Summit which Governor Martinez attended (as required by New Mexico law, by the way) on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. The e-mail came to light in a recent investigation of the alleged misuse of state Email for political rather than governmental purposes. The Rogers Email did not appear to be made in the context of humor but rather in the context of sour grapes in that the Republican primary candidate that the firm had supported, Retired Marine Corps Col. Allen Weh, “would not have dishonored Col. Custer in this manner” and, in Mr. Rogers’ opinion, “The state is going to hell.”"

Get the Story:
Harold Monteau: Racial Bigotry Comes Out of the Closet in New Mexico (Indian Country Today 8/28)

Also Today:
Custer-Friendly Official Has Backing of Republican National Committee (Indian Country Today 8/27)

Related Stories:
Harold Monteau: Tribes take advantage of Affordable Care Act (8/27)
Harold Monteau: Being Indian is more than just race or culture (8/13)