Native Americans are protesting a Michigan Republican official

Native Americans are protesting a Michigan Republican official for offensive comments he made in an article in The New Yorker titled “Down with Detroit?”  Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, referring to the historical treatment of Native Americans at the hands of non-Natives of the past, said the financially-troubled city should be turned into a reservation-style detention centre for the residence there, a largely African American population.  “What we’re gonna do is turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around, and then throw in the blankets and the corn.” On Jan. 27, the Native community in Michigan reacted by holding a Circle Dance outside the county courthouse in Pontiac. They were joined by representatives of the civil rights organization the National Action Network founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton. “The comments that he made... are insensitive, they’re unprofessional and they are disrespectful,” said Brian Moore in an article on MLive, a Michigan news website. “I’m a little confused by it. I think he was trying to relate an atrocity that happened a long time ago with Native people... and it sounded like he was trying to interpret that into what Detroit could be like.” Some protesters merely demanded an apology from Patterson, while others wanted his resignation “I took it that he wanted to kill the whole city, anybody in Detroit, because he’s modeling after what they did on Indian reservations when they threw those blankets and poisoned corn; did nothing but kill us,” said Andrea Pierce, an Idle No More activist, on MLive. “We were hoping for an apology from L. Brooks but his refusal has proven that he meant what he said. At this point, L. Brooks has got to go.”