A Dec. 17 Minnesota Public Radio story says Metro Transits’ own internal analysis of its law enforcement data “shows a range of racial disparities in how the agency enforces transit and other laws.”
The information came from an internal analysis by Metro Transit. According to the MPR story:
• Native American adults were 55 percent more likely to be cited than whites, rather than merely warned.
• Native American adults were almost twice as likely to be arrested than whites.
The analysis also found that for one of the most basic violations, a first-time accusation of not paying a full fare, blacks were 26 percent more likely to get a criminal charge than whites and Native Americans were more than twice as likely to get a criminal charge, in the form of a citation.
Small Town, Bigger Trend: Belfast Nixes Columbus Day
OK, I have to admit to blinking twice when I got a brief email with a link saying that Belfast axed Columbus Day. “Wow,” I thought, “I didn’t even know Ireland recognized Columbus Day, this is really something!” Then I read the story. Turns out it was from the Bangor Daily News. It said the city council of Belfast, Maine, “voted this week at a regular meeting to do away with the name Columbus Day and to replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day, making the midcoast city the first municipality in the state to rename the holiday.”
So Belfast joins other cities around the country renaming Columbus Day. The trend continues. Click on the link above for details.
This Day in History: A Lame Apology
On this day in history, December 19, 2009, President Obama signed the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill, containing what might be the lamest apology in recorded history. Buried on page of Section 8113 of the bill is the “Apology to Native Peoples of the United States.”
There was no media release, no public acknowledgement. Nothing. It is fairly brief, so we will copy the whole thing here.
Sec. 8113
The United States, acting through Congress—
(b) Disclaimer
Nothing in this section—
So what do you think? Here is a piece from Indian Country Today in December 2011 commenting on this apology, titled: A Tree Fell in the Forest: The U.S. Apologized to Native Americans and No One Heard a Sound.