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Murphy and the Indians. Setting the
record straight
By Philip Murphy
Myth #1. The Bradley-Clearwood-whatever connection.
It doesn't exist. In no way, shape or form has me or any member of my family EVER worked for, had a financial stake in or contact with anyone connected to the Bradley mining company or Clearwood Energy company. The closest connection you could make is that several years ago my wife did a college paper on the super fund site, and I spent the day taking pictures of it for her. Most of the photos used for her report emphasized the proximity of the Elem res and the possible affect of the mining operation on the Elem residents. Some of the shots were taken from the res and showed how runoff from the tailings went into the Elem community. I have said that I MIGHT be in favor of a geothermal plant at some location near the Sulfur Bank Mine, IF they could mitigate all the visual and aural impacts to the satisfaction of the neighbors, and only if the closed-loop system was used. Lot of "ifs" „ there, they may be able to do it from a technical standpoint, but the cost would probably be prohibitive. We need energy and won't have oil forever, if you think sending your kids to die in Iraq to keep your lights on is a better plan then I think you're wrong. And no, I wouldn't mind it at my place, since I live between to a pesticide warehouse and an aggregate separating plant used for making concrete Id probably not even notice it.
Myth # 2. I hate Indians.
Yes, it was my intense hatred for native Americans that led me to go to the Kelseyville school board and formally ask them to stop using the Indian mascots for their sports teams. Know what? They would have, if only the tribes wrote them a letter asking them to, which they refused to do because they thought a nonnative backlash would reduce casino revenues-and that's the Goddamn truth. Heres another fact for you: I pissed-off a hell of a lot of white people when I did that, and it probably played a big role in me being defeated in my run for the school board in 2001, plus a lot of rednecks are still pissed at me today for it. Not one single Indian has ever thanked me for doing something on their behalf that has cost me plenty of ill-will from my fellow palefaces and will continue to for years. I have stuck my neck out big time over the years for Indians, Blacks, Mexicans and Gays, and have never done anything in my life that could be accurately described as "racist".
Myth # 3. I have unfairly pointed out that Elem members have been involved in an inordinate number of violent incidents.
I'm sorry folks, but the facts speak for themselves, people at Elem get in way too much serious trouble with the law. Why? Because that is what desperate people tend to do, whether they are white, Black, Mexican or Asian. How do I know? Because I have lived in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Sacramento, and I have seen desperate people of ALL races do desperate things. The problem isn't that they are Indians, it's that they have lost hope, and I blame EVERYONE for that sad fact. I blame people like supervisor Jeff Smith ("what, I have Indians in my district?"), I blame the Elem government in years past and the people who elected them, and I blame the whole Goddamn county for letting these people fall through the cracks for so long. Shame on all of us who haven't done anything to change the equation for the better. I have said it a million times and I'll say it again, we should start fixing the worst places in the county first, and quit giving shit loads of our precious tax money to rich people every year in the hope that some of it may trickle down to the people who actually need it. Fuck our county supervisors and city councils for being guilty of this hideous sin against humanity and their total neglect of the people who need their help the most, the folks at Elem. If you can't honestly talk about bad things like too many people at Elem killing people and getting sent to jail for the rest of their lives then you can't start the process of fixing the problem that won't fix itself by ignoring it. Got it?
One correction I should have made is that one (or maybe two, I'm not certain) deputies (K. Brown) are from Elem, so I suppose they don't have a big fear or dread of going there on a call-my bad, I knew better. It still doesn't change the overall dynamic between all local tribes and the law, which by the estimation of both sides needs a lot of work.
Same thing goes for the drug and alcohol problems on the reservations or the shabby housing, these are symptoms of people who have given up on themselves and just don't care anymore, and a community that has failed them. We have plenty of white people here who share the same problems, and they too are testaments to the shortcomings of our society as a whole. However, because of the sovereignty of the reservations some things (like falling down homes), slide a lot further downhill than they would in the rest of the county, so it tends to compound the problems there. Also, when you have a res with rundown housing right on a road that several thousand people use everyday it's hard to ignore, hence the ongoing gripes in the nonnative community about the Big Valley Rancheria. Maybe with their new housing things will improve there, we can only hope, as it's all up to the tribe.
Heres the deal in a nutshell: When the tribes fuck-up I treat them just like all the white folks I gripe about, I don't look at the skin color, I look at what they're doing-that's all. If I said "I'm an environmentalist, but if Indians do things that screw-up the environment that's OK" , it WOULD make me a racist, in my book. It's the same deal for everyone with me, if you want political correctness or need your ass kissed go see the Sierra Club or some other bunch of nuzzle butts. By the way, know who's website posted the first anti-Nady Rattlesnake Island story, or the pleas of innocence from Elem members up on murder charges? Mine. So let's get over the "Murphy said something critical about a tribe, he MUST be a racist" claptrap, shall we? Feel free to correct me if I have fact wrong or if you have something to add to a story that's fine too, but give the "he complains about us because were Indians" stuff a rest, it's a symptom of ignorance.
Myth # 4. I have been against Indian gaming.
Actually, I'm against gambling in all forms, for everyone. But all three times Indian gaming measures have been on the ballot I've voted for them, in spite of my dislike for gambling. If Indian gaming can help the tribes out of the poverty that besets many of them and no one else is going to help them, then I give my grudging approval to it. My one gripe about how it's being done is that the money isn't being shared fairly among gaming and non-gaming tribes, and that right now the tribes are trying to screw each other by moving their casinos to urban areas. Small tribes with casinos near big cities turn their members into multimillionaires, while other more remotely located tribes are still struggling, and that's not right. More proof that greed and selfishness are human traits shared by all races, nobody has the moral high ground on that count.
One more thing: I was the first certified organic pear grower in Lake County's $20 million dollar-a -year pear industry, I make no apologies for the way I run my orchards (I grow organic walnuts too), or the way I treat my hardworking Mexican employees, for whom I have deep respect and gratitude. I put my whole career and fortune on the line doing something no one else had done before (and many "experts" said wouldn't work), so when I hold people to a high standard environmentally it's because I have put my money where my mouth is-have you? I have also done (and still do) every crappy job there is in a orchard or vineyard (including picking), and unlike every other gringo grower I do ladder work right alongside my campesinos. The last thing I'll say about the whole race thing is that my family has taken Indian, Black and Mexican people into our home and let them live with us for free, is that what racists do?
# 01039 hits since July 19 2006