The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

Golden prairies and winding rivers of a Minnesota state park also hold the secret burial sites of Dakota people who died as the United States failed to fulfill treaties with Native Americans more than a century ago. Now their descendants are getting the land back.

The state is taking the rare step of transferring the park with a fraught history back to a Dakota tribe, trying to make amends for events that led to a war and the largest mass hanging in U.S. history.

“It’s a place of holocaust. Our people starved to death there,” said Kevin Jensvold, chairman of the Upper Sioux Community, a small tribe with about 550 members just outside the park.

The Upper Sioux Agency State Park in southwestern Minnesota spans a little more than 2 square miles (about 5 square kilometers) and includes the ruins of a federal complex where officers withheld supplies from Dakota people, leading to starvation and deaths.

Decades of tension exploded into the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 between settler-colonists and a faction of Dakota people, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. After the U.S. won the war, the government hanged more people than in any other execution in the nation. A memorial honors the 38 Dakota men killed in Mankato, 110 miles (177 kilometers) from the park.

Jensvold said he has spent 18 years asking the state to return the park to his tribe. He began when a tribal elder told him it was unjust Dakota people at the time needed to pay a state fee for each visit to the graves of their ancestors there.

Lawmakers finally authorized the transfer this year when Democrats took control of the House, Senate and governor’s office for the first time in nearly a decade, said state Sen. Mary Kunesh, a Democrat and descendant of the Standing Rock Nation...

Long, long overdue.  Thanks, Democrats!

The bad:

Displays of white supremacy seen across parts of Orlando this weekend have signaled a reminder to many of the NAACP’s warnings about the state growing increasingly hostile under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis. On Saturday (Sept. 2), several Neo-Nazis were observed as they participated in a “March of the Redshirts” with Swatsika flags, Hitler salutes, and chants.

The state’s Anti-Defamation League (ADL) identified the extremist groups seen at Cranes Roost Park in Altamonte Springs as the Goyim Defense League and the Blood Tribe. There were about 51 people gathered over a bridge dressed in a uniform that consisted of a red shirt, black pants, and black masks. Some of their chants included “White power,” “Jews will not replace us,” and “We are everywhere.”

Florida Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, who represents District 42, said the display was “absolutely disgusting stuff and another example of the far right extremism growing in [Florida]” as she captured footage shared on Twitter. A similar scene unfolded outside of Disney World, where an antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ demonstration was executed by the Order of the Black Sun, the Aryan Freedom Network, and 14 First members.

Earlier this summer, in June, the tourist attraction was the sight of similar protests. Signs that blasted racists and homophobic slurs were on display. Others showed their unwavering support for DeSantis’ presidential campaign, which has stood on pillars of anti-inclusivity and active efforts to erase DEI initiatives across the state.

The controversial gatherings come just one week after 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter targeted and killed three Black people at a Jacksonville Dollar General. Authorities say the gunman used an AR-15-style rifle that had white Swastikas drawn on it in the racially motivated attack. The tragedy is currently being investigated as a hate crime by the FBI.

In May, the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning Black Americans not to travel to the Sunshine State. “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color,” the organization stated in a press release.

Bootsie's fascistic policies and rhetoric are having consequences.  His pledge to "Make America Florida" should be seen in this chilling context.

The ugly:

An unusual late-summer storm turned a week-long counterculture fest into a sloppy mess with tens of thousands of partygoers stuck in foot-deep mud and with no working toilets in the northern Nevada desert. But some Burning Man revelers said Sunday that their spirits remained unbroken.

Organizers closed the festival to vehicles after one death was reported. Officials provided no details of the fatality.

The annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Reno attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. Disruptions are part of the event’s recent history: Organizers had to temporarily close entrances to the festival in 2018 due to dust storms, and the event was twice canceled altogether during the pandemic.

More than a half an inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain fell at the festival site on Friday, disrupting this year’s festival.  [snip]

Officials said late Saturday they didn’t yet know when the roads would “be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely,” but they were hopeful vehicles could depart by late Monday if weather conditions improved.

President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he is aware of the situation at Burning Man, including the death, and the White House is in touch with local officials. Biden said he did not know the cause of death.

With their party closed to motorized traffic, attendees trudged through mud, many barefoot or with plastic bags on their feet. Revelers were urged to conserve supplies of food and water, and most remained hunkered down at the site...

Good luck to them.