RELEASE
October 9, 2000
ABC’s “20/20” and the Rest of the Story
By Darrel Smith
On Friday, September 22, ABC’s “20/20” did a program on race relations in
South Dakota. The program opened with Barbara Walters asking, “Are racial hatreds, long buried, rising again? Some American Indians out West think so
because one after another tribal members have been discovered...dead…their lifeless bodies raising fear and suspicion.”
After listing examples, Lynn Sherr, “20/20’s” interviewer said, “Many Indians say Whites are responsible for all of the deaths.” An Indian march
was photographed with a sign that said, “Stop Lakota Ethnic Cleansing.” Indian activist, Mark Whitebull, was quoted as saying, “This is like the
deep South in the sixties, like apartheid.”
Throughout the story, “20/20” accepted the claims of Indian activists without question. They didn’t check or quote any official statistics or
interview any knowledgeable officials about these deaths beyond the Many Horses case.
They referred to six Indians found dead in Rapid Creek but didn’t mention that according to the Sheriff’s Department, two Whites have also been found
dead in Rapid Creek. “20/20” also didn’t mention that the blood alcohol content of the six Indians was at least three times, to over five times, the
legal alcohol limit. These deaths are still under investigation and to blame these and all other Indian deaths on Whites and White racism is totally
irresponsible.
How many Indians are being murdered in South Dakota? Statistics are maintained separately, outside and
within Indian reservations. According to South Dakota’s Department of Criminal Investigation these are the off
reservations statistics for the last years that are available:
Victims
Offenders
1998 8 total 1 Indian
10 total 0 Indian
1997 11 total 2 Indian
12 total 2 Indian
Thus three Indians were murdered in the entire State outside of reservations in the last two years that data is available. While every murder is a
tragedy, this is hardly a “Lakota Ethnic cleansing.”
The FBI and the BIA investigates murders within Indian reservations. While the FBI does not keep this type of statistics, both Mark Vukelich with the
Rapid City FBI office and David Heller with the Sioux Falls FBI office strongly maintain that, “the vast majority of Indian murders on reservations are caused by Indian offenders.” They called both Indian-on-White and
White-on-Indian murders “rare” and “few and far between.”
How likely is it that, “Whites are responsible for all of the deaths ”mentioned in the “20/20” report? Very close to zero. “20/20’s” propagation
of these unsubstantiated, bigoted charges was ignorant, irresponsible, inflammatory, slanderous and racist.
In response to allegations of fifty-seven "uninvestigated" and "unresolved"
murders in South Dakota, the FBI issued a report in May 2000 called "Accounting for Native American Deaths; Pine Ridge Indian Reservation;
South Dakota." The report illustrates how dishonest allegations of Indian deaths
tend to be. This report wasn’t mentioned by “20/20” either because of ignorance, or by design.
After airing charges of Indian murders caused by White racism and perpetrators, ABC’s “20/20” focused on the tragic and widely reported Many
Horses death. Upon hearing that the State’s medical examiner didn’t support a finding of murder or manslaughter, “20/20” said, “In other words, he [the
States Attorney] couldn’t find any forensic experts to say being put upside down in a trash can, caused Robert’s death.”
Returning to New York, “20/20” contacted six medical examiners and found one
that said Many Horses’ position was a significant factor causing his death. Another one said that, “If Many Horses was alive when he was put in the
garbage can, positional asphyxiation was the cause of his death.” “20/20”
then confronted the States Attorney with the question, “If we could find these guys within a couple of weeks, why couldn’t you find anybody when you
were doing this?”
“20/20” seemed to assume the States Attorney should shop for evidence to support a prosecution like he would a shirt – simply keep looking until he
finds experts to support his case. What would “20/20” think of their own legal ethics if the defendants were Indian? Thankfully, local officials have higher ethics than “20/20.”
The State’s original medical examiner had consulted with two other medical examiners before issuing his report, thus out of the nine medical opinions,
two said positional asphyxiation was the cause of death. Would a judge, jury or anybody else accept this kind of evidence as being “beyond a reasonable
doubt?”
“20/20” quoted an Indian activist who told about his wounded, veteran dad who walked through the streets of a local town and observed signs that said,
“No Dogs and No Indians Allowed.” Very dramatic, emotional and incriminating. The only problem is that a group of long time, local residents in this small, rural community, where “everybody knows
everything,” insist that the sign never existed. It’s an example of an urban myth. Even if the sign did temporarily exist, what is it called when a
negative isolated event is used to characterize a racial group?
Throughout the program, “20/20” reported many ironic, negative charges. For example, an Indian activist
claimed that South Dakota is “like apartheid.”
Neither this activist, nor “20/20,” seemed to recognize the fact that—because of federal policy and some Indian’s demands, Indian reservations are designed for Indian separation and segregation—the very
definition of the word “apartheid.” In an attempt to demonstrate racism, the
program showed houses “where Whites choose to live” and others where Indians
live without noting the nearby tribal/federal housing project designed for tribal members.
“20/20” quoted a claim that, “Most Indians believe racial discrimination permeates all aspects of life in South Dakota.” Unfortunately, nobody knows
what most Indians believe because they haven’t asked them (Over 75 percent of all Indians have left their reservations to live in the general
community).
Racial discrimination does exist in South Dakota, but most of it is imported into the state. The word “Indian” is a racial classification. Federal
Indian policy, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian reservations and tribal
governments are all based on federal racial discrimination and significantly harm the lives of most Indians and many non-Indians in the state. What would
we think about a federal White policy, a Bureau of White Affairs and White reservations run by White governments?
Although “20/20” mentioned the jurisdiction problems these racist policies create, they refused to seriously confront this official federal racism or
consider the damage it inflicts on all the people of this State. Evidently, for “20/20,” the idea of an America where everyone, including the government, treats all citizens equal was either too novel or too radical
for them to mention.
Contact:
Darrel Smith
HCR 30 Box 1
Mobridge, South. Dakota 57601
1-605-845-2507