blog: New York Times coverage of alcohol lawsuit lets major brewers off the hook

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New York Times coverage of alcohol lawsuit lets major brewers off the hook

by: Pamela Mejia
posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Recently I wrote about the controversial lawsuit that the Oglala Sioux filed against the 4 beer vendors operating in the tiny town of Whiteclay, who sell more than 13,000 cans of beer every day to members of the tribe, despite the tribe’s ban on alcohol. Now the story is back in the spotlight, with a high-profile article in The New York Times that underscores prosecuting attorney Thomas White’s argument that the tribe cannot “get ahead, or function, without Whiteclay being addressed.”

The article rightly acknowledges that social factors have contributed to the ongoing alcohol problems on the tribe’s land. For example, it explicitly addresses the discrimination that has kept Whiteclay’s beer stores in business all these years, in spite of the Tribe’s efforts to shut it down. As one vendor said, “The state of Nebraska doesn’t want Whiteclay to go away because it allows problems to be isolated in this one little place. You hear people in the towns around here saying ‘We don’t want these guys in our town.'”

However, the article still falls short in a major way: Its author focuses primarily on the individual beer vendors being targeted in the lawsuit and largely ignores the role of other defendants, including major brewers like Anheuser Busch, who stand accused of “encouraging the illegal purchase, possession, transport and consumption of alcohol on the reservation.” A crucial part of the tribe’s argument is that the beer manufacturers and distributors knowingly provide the retailers with enormous amounts of alcohol to be sold, making them culpable for flouting the Tribe’s ban.

Alcohol control and Native rights advocates should continue to monitor the story to ensure it does not fall out of the spotlight, and that subsequent coverage holds these companies responsible for their exploitative business practices, which are at the heart of the devastation in the Oglala Sioux community.

View our other coverage on health equity at Pine Ridge:

‘But we don’t do that at Whiteclay’: Health equity and social justice on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

NYT exposes alcohol industry efforts to stall important health legislation

NYT’s Kristof calls for Bud boycott, decries brewer’s greed