African American Indian

The U.S. government is at odds with the Cherokee Nation over its decision to expel the descendants of black slaves from its ranks.

The tribe, the country’s second-largest, revoked the citizenship of 2,800 black members last week. The move cut them off from health care, food stipends, and other services, the Associated Press reported.

It followed a decision by the tribe’s Supreme Court that upheld a 2007 constitutional amendment limiting the Cherokee Nation to those with Cherokee blood. That excluded the descendants of slaves who had been owned by wealthy Cherokee individuals until being freed after the Civil War. In an 1866 treaty between the tribe and the U.S. government, those “freedmen” were guaranteed full tribal membership rights.

What a world. Once the brown-eyed have vanquished the blue-eyed, then purged the hazel-eyed; only then will the right-handed be free to chase the left-handed to the ends of the ruined earth.