What is Whiteclay?

Whiteclay, NE is an unincorporated village located in Sheridan county, about 400 miles from Omaha.  Whiteclay lies on Nebraska Highway 87 at the South Dakota border.  If you leave Whiteclay going north, you are on the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota.

What makes Whiteclay important?

First these facts:

1. Whiteclay has a population of about 14 people.
2. Pine Ridge is a dry reservation with a population that varies in estimates from 17,000 to 40,000 residents.  Pine Ridge reservation is just across the state line.  Pine Ridge Village, the largest town, on the reservation is located a mere two miles from Whiteclay, NE.
3. There are four off sale liquor stores in Whiteclay.  (Off sale liquor is sold for consumption away from where it was bought.)
4. These stores sell about 11,000 cans of beer a day.
5. There is nowhere in Whiteclay to legally consume these purchases.

What does that tell us?

It means that Native Americans are leaving the reservation to purchase alcohol.  They are drinking on the streets of Whiteclay, on the property of the stores and are transporting alcohol across the border onto the dry reservation.  All of which are illegal.

Since there’s no way the 14 people in Whiteclay are consuming 11,000 cans a day, we can safely assume plenty of “bootlegging” occurs.  That is, the beer is purchased to be resold on Pine Ridge.  This is an illegal activity on the part of the stores and the bootleggers.

It has also been credibly alleged that the stores in Whiteclay are selling to minors, trading sex for beer and committing food stamp fraud by accepting food stamps for beer.  All of these are against the law. 

Why hasn’t law enforcement stopped the alleged illegalities?

There is no local law enforcement in Whiteclay. The Nebraska State patrol and the Sheridan county sheriff’s office have the responsibility for law enforcement.  Sheridan County is a large, sparsely populated area.  It is tough to enforce all laws because there are very few law enforcement officers in the area.  The state of Nebraska also receives around $300,000 in taxes from the sale of liquor in Whiteclay per year.

What are the problems resulting from Whiteclay?

According to the Indian Health Services statistics:

• The Age-Adjusted Alcoholism Death Rates in the reservation area are 1,622% higher than the national population mean.
• The Age-Adjusted Tuberculosis Death Rates in the reservation area are 1,233% higher than the national population.
• The Age-Adjusted Diabetes Mellitus Death Rates in the reservation area are 517% higher than the national population mean (13.3 per 100,000 versus 68.7).
• The Age-Adjusted Suicide Rates in the reservation area are 265% higher than the national population mean (11.2 per 100,000 versus 29.7).

According to the US Census Bureau:

• The percentage of households living at or below poverty rates on the Pine Ridge Reservation are 365% higher than in the national population mean (13.0% versus 47.4%).
• The college diploma rates are 82% lower on the Pine Ridge reservation than the mean of the national population (24.4% versus 4.3%).
• 80% of Pine Ridge Reservation residents are unemployed.
• Infant mortality rates are five times higher than in the national population.

Other than Haiti, life expectancy on the Pine Ridge is the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.

Isn’t it a matter of personal choice?

Some have said that it’s simply a matter of the Native Americans on the reservation stopping the drinking.  After all, there is something to be said for personal responsibility. But, as with many addictions including gambling, cigarettes and drugs, it is not an easy thing to overcome.  And having several liquor stores a short drive away does not encourage sobriety.

Even if drinking is a choice for an adult, what choice do the young children of Pine Ridge have? They haven’t chosen to drink.  They suffer from the effects of alcohol daily: fetal alcohol syndrome, teen suicide, child abuse and child neglect.  These children have no say about the culture of drinking and despair that’s been created.

What can be done about Whiteclay?

Whiteclay exists as a Nebraska entity, and is therefore subject to Nebraska law.  We can demand that the laws of the land be upheld.

We can change existing liquor laws to give more control to the state over the liquor stores.

We can demand our Governor, Attorney General and legislators stop kicking the issue of Whiteclay down the road.  They too often dodge questions by saying that the tribal leaders and South Dakota need to come to the table.  This simply is not true.  Whiteclay and the four liquor stores exist in the state of Nebraska, under Nebraska law.  They are a Nebraska problem. Nebraska citizens and our elected officials bear some responsibility.

It is time we demand that our elected officials take more action.  You can write Governor Heineman and ask him to show some leadership on the issue.  Or write Attorney General Jon Bruning, the top law enforcement official in the state, and ask him to make sure the laws are being enforced.  Contact your state legislator and tell him/her you are embarrassed that Nebraska allows such exploitation of human beings, especially children, and ask him/her to revise statutes to make it easier to shut down these liquor stores.

Above all speak-up.  Educate your families and friends on the issue (show them this blog post). Urge them to take action.  Stand up and be counted.

UPDATE 11/24/10: The Senate is expected to vote on the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act during the lame duck session.  Email or call Senator Johanns to let him know you support him and his co-sponsorship of the legislation.

Dave Nabity with the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector and Brad Stevens with Americans for Prosperity continue to orchestrate a coordinated campaign to paint unions as the big bogeyman that is coming for you and your children.

This time, the scare tactic is around the bi-partisan Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009, S. 1611 which Senator Mike Johanns is co-sponsoring.

It's a wonder why Sen. Johanns is co-sponsoring the bill since he was not a friend to union workers when he was Governor, but that issue alone could take up an entire blog post.

Brad Stevens with Americans for Prosperity is currently circulating an email with the following:

Right now Sen. Johanns is co-sponsoring legislation (S. 1611) that will force public-safety employees into big government unions. Currently Nebraska is a Right to Work state, meaning we recognize an individual’s right to freedom of association, this will change under S.1611.

Wrong Brad, S. 1611 Section 2 subsection 5 clearly states:

(5) Many States and localities already provide public safety officers with collective bargaining rights comparable to or greater than the rights and responsibilities set forth in this Act, and such State and local laws should be respected.

And Section 8 further elaborates that federal law will not preempt state law if state law provides better collective bargaining rights.

Nebraska, unlike many states, already provides for public sector collective bargaining. It is called the Industrial Relations Act. It has been in effect since the late 1940’s. Nebraska is a Right-to-Work state and nothing in S. 1611 will change that. That means Nebraska employees still will have the right to choose whether or not to join a union.  No one is forced and no one is penalized for choosing not to join a union, and even those employees not in the union at their workplace still get the benefits of higher wages, better health benefits and safer working conditions.

Brad Stevens, Dave Nabity and others like them should be ashamed of themselves for this fear mongering and blatant disregard for the truth.

As a proud 30 year member of two different Nebraska public sector unions, Transport Workers Union of America Local 223 (TWU 223) and the Nebraska Association of Public Employees- American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 61 (NAPE/AFSCME 61), I guarantee you that no one can be required to be a member of a union as a condition of employment in a Nebraska political sub-division (or in any other right-to-work state).

Again, I do not believe that anyone could accuse Senator Johanns of being a good friend of organized labor, in fact, quite the opposite. If Mike Johanns is cosponsoring this piece of legislation, it tells you how unfair he sees the treatment of Public Safety personnel in states that have no collective bargaining rights. 

I now find myself in the highly unusual position of saying, “Thank you, Senator Johanns.”

Finally, one of the most important things in a collective bargaining agreement is the right to due process. It is more important than wages. This would ensure that any Public Safety personnel would have the right to a fair hearing on matters of discipline or discharge. This is an important right.  These people put their lives on the line for us every day and should not be subject to political, arbitrary or capricious discharge and/or discipline.

In the end, this about fairness.  A value all Nebraskans share and one we should all fight to make sure is upheld.