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Column: Anti-Native views after Joba's arrest
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Filed Under: Opinion | Sports

"It's the ugly undercurrent with the Joba Chamberlain DUI story:

The idea that Chamberlain's arrest for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol is somehow connected to his Native American background.

Don't kid yourself. It's out there.

"The stereotype always goes back to the drunken Indian," said Dalton Walker, a 26-year-old Native American journalist in Sioux Falls, S.D., who covered Joba at Nebraska and blogs about Native American athletes at www.reznetnews.org ("rez" is short for "reservation").

"I knew it was coming," Walker said. "Just because of that old stereotype about the drunken Native American. People are going to put that together, even if the story didn't mention he was Native. It's definitely not a reflection on Indian country. He just happened to be a Yankee baseball player who is Native American."

This anti-Native American point of view gets exposure because of Internet message boards and blogs and the ability readers now have to post comments on stories on newspaper Web sites, including Newsday's. The off-color remarks people used to make in hushed tones are now a mouse click away, available for all to see if they choose. Some people laugh, others are outraged, others ignore.

Which are you?"

Get the Story:
Anthony Rieber: Joba incident brings back old stereotype (Newsdy 10/23)

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