Schatz: Congress Needs To Stop 'Ignoring The Needs Of Native People'

[TexasTowelie]

The Hawaii senator says Democrats have a unique opportunity to address centuries of racism, in part through funneling more resources to Indigenous communities.


When Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz took the reins of the Indian Affairs Committee in February, he found out that its staffers were making less money than any other Senate committee.

The realization underscored how little clout the Indian Affairs Committee had in the Senate and the challenge of getting Congress to prioritize Indigenous issues. Schatz raised the salaries and hired more staff. But his ambitions are a lot bigger.

“The way I look at the work we’re doing is to try to understand all those injustices, where and how they occurred, what the scars are, and then to try to reverse them in a systematic way,” he said. “Because, remember, all the injustices were imposed in a terribly systematic and thoughtful and planful way.”

Schatz’s leadership of the Indian Affairs Committee comes at a critical time for Indigenous peoples in America. People in Native communities such as the Navajo Nation have disproportionately died from the coronavirus. The pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have brought increased national attention to racial disparities and historic injustices against people of color.

Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/07/schatz-congress-needs-to-stop-ignoring-the-needs-of-native-people/

[Mickju]

1. He is also including Native Hawaiians.

I read the article to make sure. I assumed that he would.