Two Michigan Indian tribes accused Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero of making racist attacks toward them Monday, as the debate to build a casino in downtown Lansing grows more heated and the likelihood of the project ever coming to fruition appears slim, some experts said.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi and Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribes — two vocal opponents of the downtown casino — said Bernero walked on stage at a breakfast fundraiser last Thursday at the Lansing Center with a bull’s eye pasted on his back to signal he was “under fire from bows and arrows,” according to a statement released Monday.
The release also accused Bernero of using racial slurs and profanity during his speech.
“I’ve been involved in my field as a professional for over 12 years, (I’ve) never been attacked personally in this manner,” said James Nye, a spokesman for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
The mayor refused to back down, defending his words in a statement released yesterday afternoon, clarifying he didn’t intend them as racist.
“None of my remarks were directed toward Native Americans, and nothing I said can fairly be construed as a racial slur, despite our opponent’s attempt to spin it that way,” Bernero said in the statement. “I make no apologies for using strong language against our opponents, who have made some very impertinent remarks about me, but I do offer my heartfelt and sincere apology to any and all who were offended by my choice of words.”
During his announcement of the project on Jan. 23, Bernero said the casino could be completed within a year and a half and create more than 2,200 jobs.
The tribe behind it, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, previously owned Detroit’s Greektown Casino Hotel before filing for bankruptcy in 2009.
The accusations came just hours before the mayor’s State of the City address, where he made another push for the proposed casino.
As a major pitching point, the mayor has said $6 million of the casino’s estimated $250 million annual revenue would go toward creating a Lansing version of the Kalamazoo Promise scholarship, which would give full four-year scholarships to any Michigan public university for students who graduate from the Lansing School District.
Bernero said during the speech the program will boost the Lansing School District and the Xsurrounding area.
As the debate becomes more heated, experts said it still is unlikely the casino will ever be built. As an off-reservation casino, the legal hurdles — which would include gaining the approval of Gov. Rick Snyder, the state legislature and the U.S. Department of the Interior — likely would be too great to overcome, said Eric Bush, an administrative manager for the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
“Very, very few off-reservation casinos are approved,” Bush said. “The Michigan Gaming Control Board doesn’t see a legal path to gaining a casino.”
And with opposition to the casino’s construction, the process of approval could take a long time even if it does start, said James Hill, a Central Michigan University professor who studies the effects of casinos, including the impact of Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
“This is not going to be a quick process,” he said. “It’s going to be a difficult process.”
If the casino ever is built, human biology senior Ryan Marks said it could see a response from students similar to that experienced in Mount Pleasant.
“It’s pretty popular up at Central Michigan,” Marks said. “I could see students going there.”
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