If @Deb4CongressNM does not change her position on Freedmen of the Five Tribes, she should immediately be disqualified from consideration for Secretary of Interior. Our rights are already under attack and she has a demonstrated history of undermining Freedmen in legislation.

Black Natives should not be the sacrificial lambs for “Native representation,” especially when we’re discussing issues as serious as tribal citizenship, COVID relief, housing assistance, etc. that non-Black/non-Freedmen tribal members have access to.

Think about this—do you really want the first Native woman on a US Presidential Cabinet to be known for her anti-Blackness in Indian Country? Because I promise you, if she continues to undermine Freedmen while Secretary of the Interior, we will make sure she is remembered for it.

You shouldn’t tolerate literal segregation, racist policy, and partial citizenship just in order to have a Native face on the Secretary of the Interior position. Those of you who are ignoring this aspect of her past are only re-enforcing something we already suspected—

you don’t see us as your “equals.” If you truly think it’s okay to hold off on securing Freedmen’s basic treaty, civil, and human rights in order to gain surface-level anti-Black “Native representation,” I don’t know what to tell you

You can read about the legislation she has already co-sponsored in Congress that REMOVED protections for Freedmen in this article: http://theoklahomaeagle.net/2020/07/07/black-lives-matter-for-freedmen-descendants-of-the-five-civilized-tribes/

Thank you to @RepMaxineWaters who is our biggest advocate in Congress right now as she fights to re-include these protections