Monday, August 11, 2008

DNC's Dean selects leader of civil rights violators Pechanga Tribe as committee member. The DNC has no regards for civil rights abuses at Pechanga

With the DNC coming in two week, I thought it's a good idea to bring this post back up. The Democratic National Committee has selected the tribal chairman of a tribe that has perpetrated serious civil rights abuses on its membership to be a member of its platform committee. Does the DNC not do any vetting of its candidates anymore? 
 
From the article: Mark Macarro serves as the Tribal Chairman of the Pechanga Band of LuiseƱo Indians. He was first elected to the council in 1992 and is serving his fifth term as chairman. Mr. Macarro also represents the Pechanga tribe in the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). Through his work, Mr. Macarro has worked to improve the economic self-sufficiency and political self-determination of his tribe. (OP: Mr. Macarro has violated the civil rights of his tribe, refused to uphold the constitution and bylaws of the band, overruled the will of the people and has verbally threatened spouses of members. Please see this link) In addition, Mr. Macarro works to preserve the Pechanga tribal culture, language, and traditional life through traditional singing and speaking the tribe's native language. Mr. Macarro is a product of the California Public Schools and holds a degree in political science from the University of California. Couple this with the NAACP of CA taking money from a tribe that is not for civil rights (Pechanga brought in busloads of people to vote down a civil rights platform and the Exec meeting of Dems in Anaheim late last year.) and you have to wonder who is FOR civil rights anymore. 

  UPDATE: Does the DNC support violating civil rights to control elections? Howard Dean, you have some 'splaining to do. Macarro: No Business of the White Man 
  
UPDATE II: Here is a letter than you can copy and past and send to Howard Dean AND you can call to express your displeasure: 202-863-8000 Democratic National Committee c/o Chairman Howard Dean 430 S. Capitol St. SE Washington , DC 20003 Re: Appointment of Mark Macarro to the DNC Platform Committee 

  
Dear Chairman Dean: I submit this letter as a formal request to you and the Democratic National Committee ("DNC") to remove Mark Macarro of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians from his appointment on the DNC Platform Committee

 
Under Mark Macarro's leadership, Pechanga tribal officials have been responsible for the mass disenfranchisement of over 300 tribal citizens, which comprise 25% of the tribal population. And it was no coincidence that the mass removals occurred just prior to two regularly scheduled tribal elections in which Mr. Macarro ran for re-election as tribal chairman. Needless to say, Mr. Macarro was re-elected both times. 
 
The actions to remove these citizens from the tribal rolls, and deny hundreds more their citizenship, have been characterized by lack of due process and equal protection of existing tribal and federal laws. In fact, laws enacted by the United States Congress to protect Indian individuals from arbitrary and capricious acts of tribal officials, such as the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, have gone largely ignored during Mr. Macarro's tenure. 

 
Targeted individuals have not only been denied minimum due process and equal protection standards, the most recent mass disenfranchisement was approved by Mr. Macarro after the tribe's governing body had passed a law prohibiting such action. This "cultural genocide" now finds hundreds of Pechanga tribal members and thousands more California Indians, cut-off from much needed health care services, senior services, education assistance and child development programs. Mr. Macarro has routinely stated that the actions to strip tribal members of their citizenship were internal matters and of ".no business to the white man." Mr. Macarro and other tribal officials have escaped prosecution for their violations of basic rights by invoking the tribe's sovereignty. Nevertheless, immunity from prosecution does not equate to innocence of action. Mr. Macarro's actions are horrific indeed, and one must wonder why, in this age of instant access to information via the internet, the DNC would appoint such a person to such a prestigious and high profile assignment. The situation at Pechanga has been reported on extensively in many mediums, yet it appears that the DNC is either unaware or cares not about such basic rights violations. The human and civil rights violations which have occurred at Pechanga under Mr. Macarro's leadership rival those in many Third World dictatorships. Indeed, if Mr. Macarro was not the leader of an American Indian tribe and the Pechanga Band was not funneling millions of dollars to the DNC and Democratic candidates, the DNC and Democratic lawmakers might very well be calling for sanctions against Pechanga and an investigation into the human and civil rights violations committed by Mr. Macarro and Pechanga tribal officials. It is time for the DNC to institute criteria for DNC appointees that gives greater weight to the content of the individual's character than it does to the number of zeros in their bank account. At the very least, the DNC must re-examine its vetting process to ensure that people like Mr. Macarro do not slip through the cracks in the future. Please reconsider your appointment of Mr. Macarro to the DNC Platform Committee. Respectfully submitted:

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Democrats have no shame.

Come on, Dems, come on NAACP, get with it.

'aamokat said...

Amazing also that Macarro went to republicans like Gov. Swartzenegger to help Pechanga in geting their new compact.

This after trashing the governor in the past for his stance on the previous compact that was signed by former governor Gray Davis.

Yes, Macarro is not a very loyal democrat as he just goes where the smell of money blows.

Macarro is about as loyal as Benedict Arnold was to the American colonists in the revolutionary war.

Just goes to show you that a lot of these positions are just for sale to the highest bidder.

OPechanga said...

If you look up Macarro, Masiel and Murphy, it's interesting that NONE of them have put their own money where their mouths are. NO donations to Presidential candidates. Well, not with their money. With Pechanga's money, it might be a different story. But with council members making $100,000 a year, plus, $400,000 per year in per capita since they disenrolled 25% of their tribe, you'd think they would have a little cash to spend.

Creeper said...

While attending a Pow Wow on AprilL 19 at the Sherman Indian High Scool in Riverside, Ca. i noticed a Pechanga tribal member, Irene Scearce, selling raffle tickets to the people there. The winning tickets could be redeemed for boxes of cereal, ccokies and such. I wonder, did it hurt much finacially to give away a few boxes of items, did it come out of the tribes savings? After all, money is tight right now, it'll just have to do. But wait, there is more to tell you, a few days prior to this, donations where given to the " BROTHERS UNITED FOR WELLNESS" a scheduled June event, and among the 4 big tribes in So.Cal, the Pechanga Band gave the smallest, yes, smallest amount.We know Folks, times are hard right now, even for the rich tribes, they give what they can, after all remember,they need to save some of their money for Arnold and CALIFORNIA.

OPechanga said...

I URGE you all to write to FOX News to see if they will play this up....

Anonymous said...

yyaaaaarghhhh!

Anonymous said...

ALSO, WHAT THE DEMOCRATS SHOULD KNOW IS THAT DIDN'T MARK MACARRO LIE TO A CONGRESSONAL COMMITTEE WHEN HE SAID THE TRUST PROPERTY THAT WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE PECHANGA TRIBE IN 2001 WOULD NOT BE DEVELOPED, THAT THE TRIBE WANTED TO PROTECT RESOURCES CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT TO THE TRIBE?

WHAT RESOURCES, GOLF?

FAST FORWARD TO 2007 AND WE SAW THAT THE PECHANGA GOLF COURSE WAS GOING INTO A PORTION OF THE 2001 TRUST LAND.

SO THE TRIBE DESTROYED LAND THAT WAS HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT TO THE LUSISENO PEOPLE BY CHANGING ITS LANDSCAPE FROM THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT THE TRIBE SAID IT WANTED TO PROTECT TO THE GOLF COURSE OF TODAY.

LAST I HEARD, LYING TO A CONGRESSONAL COMMITTEE IS A FEDERAL CRIME.

ONE WOULD THINK MARK MACARRO BELONGS IN JAIL IF HE DID LIE TO CONGRESS.

AFTER ALL NO LESS THAN PRESIDENT CLINTON, A DEMOCRAT, WAS IMPEACHED AND ALMOST THROWN OUT OF OFFICE FOR ALLEGATIONS THAT HE LIED TO A CONGRESSONAL COMMITTEE.

IT IS PRETTY MUCH COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT PRSIDENT CLINTON DID LIE TO THE CONGRESSONAL COMMITTEE ABOUT HIS ARRAIR WITH A WHITE HOUSE INTERN BUT APPARENTLY THE SENATE DIDN'T THINK IT WAS SERIOUS ENOUGH TO WARRANT HIM LOSING THE PRESIDENCEY.

BUT DOES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, IF MARK MACARRO DID LIE TO CONGRESS REGARDING THE 2001 LAND TRANSFER, WANT TO BE KNOWN AS THE PARTY OF LIARS?