Lawless

I listened to this story on NPR the other day about the alarming increase in sexual assault in Indian Country, overwhelmingly Native women being raped by white men, and how convoluted and contradictory Federal law ensures that the perpetrators will almost never be caught, let alone prosecuted. Even though the facts were all well-known to me, I found myself growing so angry I had to sit in my truck for awhile in the parking lot and cool off. Part of the reason for my anger was that NPR was far too genteel to mention the real reason for the crime explosion on Native lands: the institutional racism of Congress and the Supreme Court that has castrated Tribal Sovereignty, stripped tribal courts of the jurisdiction to hear felony offenses, and (most unforgivable of all) granted white people extraterritoriality (essentially, immunity from prosecution) in Indian Country. Every single one of these women who have had their lives shattered can lay the blame at the feet of the Federal Government for turning Indian Country into the Wild West.

UPDATE: The House has voted for increased funding to "protect Native women." Fairly typical liberal response-chunk money at the problem without addressing either the real problem (racism) or the real solution (restoration of tribal sovereignty).