Thursday, July 2, 2020

L.A. Angels Please DROP Pechanga Resort & Casino Sponsorship

50 Links to Tribal Disenrollment Posts
Los Angeles Angels Sponsor Pechanga Chairman

Dear Angels Baseball

We ask that you publicly sever your ties to the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Tribe and investigate the issues detailed below to determine whether sponsorship from tribal gaming is in the best interests of Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Angels

The recent protests over police violence against African Americans have made many organizations put Black Lives Matter on the front burner. As a sports organization that values diversity, OP asks: Would the Los Angeles Angels support BLM against the ravages of APARTHEID. We think you would, and rightly so. Discrimination in all its forms are abhorrent.

It follows then that Angels Baseball would give the same regard to Native Americans who live under apartheid systems and would not hesitate to support Native Americans suffering from discrimination. Now OP provides the Angels organization the opportunity to make a difference, and help right the wrongs on the reservation of your sponsor, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians in Temecula.

Throughout Indian Country, thousands of native Americans have had their cultural heritage stripped from them, primarily by gaming tribes. Angels Baseball sponsor, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, of Temecula CA, is one of the most egregious civil rights violators in Indian Country.

The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and KNBC News have done numerous stories detailing the activities of the tribe, including “Tribal Flush: Pechanga People Disenrolled En Masse.” and “Without a Tribe” reported by Colleen Williams of KNBC.
- The Pechanga Band has eliminated 25% of its citizenship and denied them due process as well as equal protection under tribal and federal laws, in direct violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act.
- The Tribe stripped elders of their health care benefits and access to the tribal medical clinic.
- The Tribe forcibly removed the children of members from the tribal school.
- The recent disenrollment of 100+ adults and children was especially heinous as the Tribe's governing body had passed a law to repeal disenrollment procedures and make it illegal for the Enrollment Committee to remove members without consensus. Tribal leaders acted in disregard of this law and proceeded to strip members of their citizenship without just cause.
These leaders knowingly violated their own Constitution and the ICRA. Pechanga tribal officials breached their oaths of office, then claimed these illegal actions were protected by sovereign immunity. Sovereignty gives tribes the right of self-determination, but cannot be allowed to justify discrimination or the disregard of inalienable civil rights.

Sports betting is big business, but professional teams must be free of the taint of gambling corruption. Who can trust the results of games when a team accepts sponsorship from a gaming Tribe that deliberately cheated members out of their rightful heritage? We ask that you publicly sever your ties to the Pechanga Tribe and investigate the issues detailed above to determine whether sponsorship from tribal gaming is in the best interests of Major League Baseball. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ask the Lakers as well.