“We the People” includes all Americans – but July 4th is a reminder that democracy remains a work in progress Having self-governed for centuries, Native Americans were not legally recognized with voting rights until Congress approved the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. While that supposedly gave Native Americans the same rights as other Americans, Native Americans faced the same tactics, like violence, that white racists used to prevent Black Americans from voting.
The U.S. Department of Justice will be funneling more resources toward addressing the alarming rate of disappearances and killings among Native Americans. The agency announced a new outreach program Wednesday. Five attorneys and five coordinators will be dispatched to several regions around the country to help with investigations of unsolved cases and related crimes. Their reach will span from New Mexico and Arizona to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Michigan and Minnesota. The announcement came as a special commission gathered in Albuquerque for one of its final field hearings as it works to develop recommendations for addressing the crisis.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
