Economic Costs and Consequences of Racism Against Indians--and Others

[Louis Proyect]

(An historic suit is being brought against the State of Washington by a
coalition of 15 tribes in their *own* court. PEN-L's Jim Craven has been
deeply involved in various aspects of the case, from collecting historical
material on the definition of genocide to the economic consequences of
racism. I consider his involvement with this campaign to be a paradigm for
all progressive economists. The case goes to court tomorrow and we shall be
getting frequent updates.)

Jim's findings:

Racist attitudes, practices, symbols and caricatures are designed to 
and/or have the effect of dehumanizing, ridiculing, objectifying, 
stereotyping, debasing, devaluing, controlling etc the behavior, 
social worth, estimates of self-worth, socioeconomic status and 
political economic power of  the target group collectively as well as 
for individuals as members of a target group. Because so much of 
economic behavior and returns from economic behavior depend upon 
socioeconomic status and power/powerlessness of a particular group or 
individuals within a group and perceptions of others about a 
particular group or individual members of that group, some of the 
documentable and measurable economic costs and consequences of racism  
against Indians include the following:

1) Unwillingness of non-Indians to invest on Reservations, in Indian 
education, in individual Indians or in programs designed to 
educate/employ Indians and/or a willingness to invest only under 
unconscionable terms or terms that do little if anything to improve 
the conditions and self-sufficiency of Indians;

2) Wage rates and salaries for Indians bearing no relationship to 
comparable worth or equal pay for equal work relative to pay rates 
for comparable positions occupied by non-Indians;

3) Menial and manual labor, semi-skilled and low pay employment 
reserved for Indians and professional, skilled and relatively high 
pay positions reserved for non-Indians;

4) Programs addressing historical forms and consequences of 
disenfranchisement of Indians typically underfunded, understaffed, 
run by non-Indians and not directed toward addressing real outcomes 
of significance to Indians and Indian issues;

5) Government programs, budgets and spending patterns primarily 
palliative and superficial not reflecting a belief in the worth, 
intelligence, employability or educational potential of Indians;

6) Industries and businesses on Reservations and other areas serving 
Indians mostly non-Indian owned, employing Indians only in marginal 
and semi-skilled or unskilled positions lacking the intention to 
reinvest profits in growth and employment in the Indian areas in 
which they are operating;

7) Tax revenues from Indian resources and economic activities 
siphoned off by Governmental and private sources with little or no 
returns (economic growth, employment, incomes, product diversity, 
investment) given back to the areas from which the tax revenues were 
siphoned off;

8) Non-Indian-owned enterprises on Reservations and areas serving 
Indians carrying over-priced and inferior-quality foodstuffs 
contributing to poor diet and adverse epidemiological trends among 
Indians;

9) High-quality educators, professionals, technicians, programs  and
enterprises unwilling 
to locate or stay on Reservations or areas serving Indian people;

10) Indian-made products produced by low-value-added unskilled or
semi-skilled labor, 
sold at prices and under terms and conditions unfavorable to the real
producers with real profits 
accruing to non-Indian distributors, outlets and marketers who appropriate
the 
largest percentages of total value-added;

11)  Indians suffering low self-esteem that leads to willingness 
to work for unconscionable wages, sign unconsionable contracts and 
work under unconscionable conditions while being unwilling or unable 
to enter and remain in educational programs preparing students for 
skilled, professional and relatively high-wage jobs;

12) Lost potential productivity, competitiveness, economic growth, 
economic development, self-sufficiency and sovereignty due to 
climates and attitudes (Indian and non-Indian) that discourage 
investment, dampen productivity, create/reinforce dysfunctional 
family situations, high-quality and relevant  education programs, new 
enterprises etc on Reservations or areas serving Indians;

13) Precious non-renewable resources expropriated for non-Indian 
enterprises and uses under unconscionable conditions, with 
environmentally disastrous effects and under adverse and 
unconscionable prices and terms of trade;

14) Lack of effective political representation for Indians and lack 
of belief in the right of Indians to effective representation and 
lack of belief in the potential benefits and desirable impacts of any 
programs addressed to Indian issues;

15) Non-Indians inclined to foster and reinforce forms of corruption 
and divide-and-rule in dealing with Indian authorities and issues;

16) Indian Reservations and areas inhabited primarily by Indians 
targeted at dump sites for toxic and other wastes (out of 73 dump 
sites targeted by EPA 72 on Indian Reservations and world's largest 
stroage site of [leaking] deadly nerve gas on the Umatilla 
Reservation in Hermiston, Oregon) causing/reinforcing all sorts of 
deadly and debilitating diseases and medical conditions;

17) Indian Reservations and areas primarily inhabited by Indians 
targeted by predatory non-Indian banking and financial entities seeking to 
capture Indian savings and Tribal revenues at unconscionable terms 
(low interest rates on savings and accounts holding Tribal revenues 
contrasted with high even usurious interest rates on loans to Indians 
and Tribes) with those banking and financial entities not investing 
in the areas from which the funds held in accounts originate;

18) Economic growth and development on Reservations or areas 
primarily inhabited by Indians  at low levels, highly uneven and 
disarticulated with meagre future growth and development prospects;

19) Indian enterprises are few, mostly relegated to tourism, 
handicrafts or semi-skilled labor produced goods and services that 
are highly cyclical and extremely vulnerable to the ongoing and 
inevitable vicissitudes of the capitalist business cycle;

20) Indian health clinics grossly underfunded, understaffed and 
overworked, non-Indian health professionals and services unwilling to 
locate/stay on Indian Reservations or areas primarily serving Indians 
with the result that adverse and deadly epidemiological trends are 
continued/magnified causing lost productivity, significantly lowered 
life expectancies for Indians, dysfunctional family and labor 
conditions, high incidences of communicable diseases etc;

21) Lack of investment, productivity, employment and low incomes 
driving Indian Youth and older Indians into prostitution, crime, 
destitution, welfare dependence and other conditions magnifying the 
overal destitution;

                                          Jim (more to follow)

Louis Proyect

(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)