Brian Bull of WPR and NAJA, asks a straightforward question of Obama, receives answer

via DemocracyNow.

BRIAN BULL: Senator, I am Brian Bull from Wisconsin Public Radio and the Native American Journalists Association. Last February, the Australian prime minister apologized for the past treatment of its indigenous people. Last month, the Canadian prime minister also issued an apology for its treatment of its indigenous population. Would your administration issue an apology to Native Americans for the atrocities they’ve endured for the past 500 years?

Here’s Obama’s answer:

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: You know, I personally would want to see our tragic history or the tragic elements of our history acknowledged. And I think that there’s no doubt that when it comes to our treatment of Native Americans, as well as other persons of color in this country, that we’ve got some very sad and difficult things to account for.

What an official apology would look like, how it would be shaped, that’s something that I would want to consult with Native Americans tribes and councils to talk about. And as a nation, they have a host of other issues to talk about, and—because, obviously, as sovereign nations, they also have a whole host of other issues that they’re concerned about and that they’ve prioritized. One of the things that I said to tribal leaders is, I want to set up an annual meeting with them and make sure that a whole range of these issues are addressed.

But I’ve consistently believed, when it comes—whether it’s Native American issues, whether it’s African American issues and reparations, that the most important thing for the US government to do is not just to offer words, but offer deeds. And when you look at the situation on tribal lands, the fact that by every socioeconomic indicator Native Americans are doing worse than any other population on health, on education, on substance abuse—their housing situations are deplorable, unemployment is skyrocketing—you know, I have to confess that I’m more concerned about delivering a better life and creating a better relationship with the Native American peoples than anything else. And that’s what I want to engage tribal leaders in making sure happens. (emphasis mine)

Note that I don’t characterize Obama’s response as ‘straightforward.’ By stressing that his main focus in on improving the lives of Native Americans (and then note the ways he intimates that will happen), it seems like Obama is rhetorically placing the future treatment of Native America as a group who will be positively affected by his policies, in general.

That is to say that his reply attempts to focus away from taking formal responsibility for the past, and solely on the ways in which the current situation can be made better. Without such formal acknowledgment, I doubt very much that real improvement will come. By refusing a public statement accepting responsibility for historic and continuing genocide, by refusing to acknowledge the horrors of the residential school system, and by refusing to even discuss the ongoing appropriation of Native America’s most valuable assets, Obama eludes promising to take responsibility for addressing, straightforwardly, the issues confronting Native America today.

Nota Bene: By population, Native Americans are the wealthiest population in the United States, when their mineral assets are taken into account – so why are Native Americans the most impoverished, most ill, and shortest-lived population by ethnicity in the USA?.

I don’t want to characterize Brian’s response to this answer – although he is one of my oldest friends (i knew him before he wrote the now infamous “Day of the Barney” trilogy), I haven’t spoken to him yet – perhaps he feels fully satisfied with the answer. After all, there were some good things in there: a promise to hold annual meetings with the nations he properly characterized as sovereign, and a decent understanding of the demographic challenges. His focus on the future seems appropriate, though as I intimate above, I happen to think that who escapes the past intends to repeat it with impunity in the future.

For video of this, click here. Brian shows up just after the 10 minute mark in the video/audio of the complete show.