Redlines 10.08.03

A weekly look at Native American 'hed'lines
by Denny McAuliffe

Indians and Redskins

Jay Leno, as if on cue, underscored that contention in "The Tonight Show" on California's Election Day. It was recorded before the polls were closed.

In one attempted joke, Leno showed what he called a news clip of the celebration party at the campaign headquarters of Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the leading Democrat running against Schwarzenegger. In the clip, taken from a black-and-white western, an Indian wearing a war bonnet danced in front of a tepee—an allusion to the controversy that erupted over Bustamante accepting campaign contributions from California casino tribes.

If blacks had strongly supported Schwarzenegger—or if former TV star Gary Coleman, one of California's 135 candidates for governor, had been a more serious contender—would Leno have shown a clip of Hollywood's portrayal of African Americans of more than a century and a half ago? Dancing in the jungle—or in the cotton fields, rattling their shackles in rhythm?

Of course not.

So why are Indians so special?