What to do About Whiteclay
By John Andrews
Yesterday's Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star carried a good article about the newest efforts to solve the problem of Whiteclay. Bruce BonFleur, who runs a Christian outreach group in the tiny village, wants to clean up the town and build businesses, including a recycling center.
Whiteclay and its liquor stores have long been a thorny issue (watch filmmaker Mark Vasina's two-hour documentary The Battle for Whiteclay for a good account). The town sits just a few miles across the Nebraska border from the Pine Ridge reservation. Alcohol is not allowed on the reservation, so many people walk to Whiteclay, where stores sell an estimated 4 million cans of beer every year. It's not uncommon to find people sleeping in the streets, alleys and abandoned buildings. BonFleur would like to put those people to work at a new recycling center or one of the other businesses he hopes to establish in town.
The article says the Nebraska attorney general is helping find funding for BonFleur. And since the legislatures of both states are now in session, lawmakers have been meeting to discuss Whiteclay. Two bills have been introduced in the Nebraska legislature. South Dakota's legislators are "open to discussing" the issue further.
There have been countless good ideas presented when it comes to solving the Whiteclay problem, and so far BonFleur's idea is just that - an idea. But with some more creative thinking it may grow some legs.
Photo from The Battle for Whiteclay.
Yesterday's Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star carried a good article about the newest efforts to solve the problem of Whiteclay. Bruce BonFleur, who runs a Christian outreach group in the tiny village, wants to clean up the town and build businesses, including a recycling center.Whiteclay and its liquor stores have long been a thorny issue (watch filmmaker Mark Vasina's two-hour documentary The Battle for Whiteclay for a good account). The town sits just a few miles across the Nebraska border from the Pine Ridge reservation. Alcohol is not allowed on the reservation, so many people walk to Whiteclay, where stores sell an estimated 4 million cans of beer every year. It's not uncommon to find people sleeping in the streets, alleys and abandoned buildings. BonFleur would like to put those people to work at a new recycling center or one of the other businesses he hopes to establish in town.
The article says the Nebraska attorney general is helping find funding for BonFleur. And since the legislatures of both states are now in session, lawmakers have been meeting to discuss Whiteclay. Two bills have been introduced in the Nebraska legislature. South Dakota's legislators are "open to discussing" the issue further.
There have been countless good ideas presented when it comes to solving the Whiteclay problem, and so far BonFleur's idea is just that - an idea. But with some more creative thinking it may grow some legs.
Photo from The Battle for Whiteclay.
2 Comments
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://www.southdakotamagazine.com/word/wp-trackback.php?p=3010
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Does Nebraska have no laws that prohibit selling alcohol to people who are already obviously drunk, or to minors or to people who are driving back to the reservation? I’ve read that the “town” has about 14 residents, no churches and no schools. I’ve heard horror stories about the drunks driving back from White Clay to the reservation and causing terrible and fatal accidents. A few jobs at a recycling plant will just give some people some quick money to buy more alcohol. I’d just plain close down White Clay. Alcoholics, drug addicts will always find a way to get their “fixes” but closing White Clay’s four liquor stores would be a good start to a terrible problem. I’ve known about White Clay for years and all I’ve ever heard is that there is “talk” to change the situation - and so far it has been only talk and no action.
Comment by MaryH — February 3, 2010 @ 1:37 pm
The problem starts in the tribes and reservations and not in Whiteclay.
I have no sympathy for booze pushers. Every one of them in SD should be shut for a day following a fatal traffic crash, and maybe they would stop dumping drunks out on highways or selling to known alcoholics. Laws regulating booze pushers are seldom enforced.
Comment by Douglas Wiken — February 11, 2010 @ 4:26 pm