Spring Break
The Daily OrangePoint taken: Tribes unfairly control casinos
By Drew Bland
Posted: 9/28/05, 12:37 AM EST Section: Opinion
I've often hopped in the car and made the scenic half-hour journey to the Turning Stone Casino in Verona. Coming from Ohio, where all gambling except state-sponsored lotteries and horse racing is illegal, I didn't believe it until I saw it. Turns out, there are three other casinos in New York state that offer table games like poker and blackjack. All of them are operated by an American Indian tribe.
That's because the New York constitution outlaws this type of gambling ... unless you check the "American Indian" box on your census survey. Since Indian tribes are considered sovereign nations, they are able to operate these casinos after negotiating with the government.
One question: Why does a foreign country need our permission to run a casino?
The answer is money. We're not talking about creating a monopoly in the pog-slammer industry. Tribal gaming generated $18.4 billion in revenue in 2004. The government/gatekeeper certainly gets a substantial cut of this in exchange for giving these tribes a monopoly over an entire industry.
I use the term "monopoly" because any New Yorker who is not an American Indian cannot open the same type of business. Indian tribes get to transcend the law and do something white, black and Hispanic people can't do. In its 2004 economic impact report, The National Indian Gaming Association called it "the Native American success story."
The only problem seems to be the law. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that most of the Oneida Indian Nation's property in Oneida and Madison counties is not Indian land. This is where the casino is. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act requires Indian gaming occur on Indian lands. That means the casino is operating illegally.
This sort of contradiction was inevitable. We have learned throughout history that giving a certain race or ethnic group a legal preference is morally wrong. Turning Stone is a fun place to go, but I don't see why the color of my skin or my European ancestry should determine whether I can open one, too.
Drew Bland is a junior political science, policy studies and economics major. You can e-mail him at ddbland@syr.edu.
That's because the New York constitution outlaws this type of gambling ... unless you check the "American Indian" box on your census survey. Since Indian tribes are considered sovereign nations, they are able to operate these casinos after negotiating with the government.
One question: Why does a foreign country need our permission to run a casino?
The answer is money. We're not talking about creating a monopoly in the pog-slammer industry. Tribal gaming generated $18.4 billion in revenue in 2004. The government/gatekeeper certainly gets a substantial cut of this in exchange for giving these tribes a monopoly over an entire industry.
I use the term "monopoly" because any New Yorker who is not an American Indian cannot open the same type of business. Indian tribes get to transcend the law and do something white, black and Hispanic people can't do. In its 2004 economic impact report, The National Indian Gaming Association called it "the Native American success story."
The only problem seems to be the law. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that most of the Oneida Indian Nation's property in Oneida and Madison counties is not Indian land. This is where the casino is. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act requires Indian gaming occur on Indian lands. That means the casino is operating illegally.
This sort of contradiction was inevitable. We have learned throughout history that giving a certain race or ethnic group a legal preference is morally wrong. Turning Stone is a fun place to go, but I don't see why the color of my skin or my European ancestry should determine whether I can open one, too.
Drew Bland is a junior political science, policy studies and economics major. You can e-mail him at ddbland@syr.edu.
