Native American Tribes criticize Jeff Johnson over ad

Posted at 5:05 PM on November 3, 2006 by Tom Scheck (5 Comments)

The White Earth Band of the Ojibwe and the Leech Lake Band of the Ojibwe are accusing the GOP candidate for attorney general of running an ad that depicts Native Americans as "thieves." Here's the ad in question. The two groups say a dark skinned character with long straight hair is an unfair characterization of Native Americans. The two tribes have sent letters to Jeff Johnson to complain about the ad. Thoughts?

Comments (5)

I can't find anything on the net about these letters. Can you post a link?

P.S. Looks native to me...

Posted by piotr | November 3, 2006 6:31 PM

well, of all the supposedly racist ads this cycle, this one actually seems pretty racist.

in other words, i didn't really think the corker ad was that racist (stupid, yes. racist, no.) but this one is a stark stereotype of a native american.

Posted by bill | November 3, 2006 11:17 PM

I received the complaint via fax and couldn't find a link as well when I searched for one. Another MPR reporter also sent this note along from the White Earth Tribe:

Friends,

Jeff Johnson is a candidate for Attorney General in Minnesota. His most recent advertisement is offensive and portrays Native Americans as criminals.

Watch the advertisement below:

http://johnsonforag.org/IDTheftAd.html

Please call or email Jeff Johnson's campaign and tell them to pull the ad and apologize to the American Indian community in Minnesota.

(952) 544-0372 or crystal@johnsonforag.org.
Miigwech,

Peggy Flanagan
White Earth Band of Ojibwe

Posted by tom scheck | November 3, 2006 11:27 PM

Jeff Johson's other 2 ads depict white men as the criminals. My question to those complaining is, are we only allowed to depict white men as criminals?

We all know that some white men, Native American men, black men, Hispanic men etc commit crimes and many white, Native American, black, Hispanic etc men are good, law abiding citizens. It seems only fair to have 2 of the bad characters be white and 1 be a minority - if a Hispanic or black or any other minority had been chosen, I imagine the advocate group for that minority would be complaining.

Posted by GS | November 4, 2006 10:04 AM

Funny, GS,
When I called the Johnson campaign to complain, that's EXACTLY--i.e. verbatim--what they told me. If white folks were stereotyped as meth addicts for a couple hundred years, maybe your argument would stand up, but unfortunately the dominant race in Minnesota hasn't been subjected to such systematic and longstanding caricatures the way native people have. Nice try.

Posted by Paul | November 4, 2006 5:14 PM

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