Imagine there is a nation where the government has just decided to dis-enfranchise it's members who were former slaves. Not only are they ineligible to vote, they are ineligible to receive the state's free healthcare, and all of the other rights granted to full fledged citizens. Now imagine that a major corporation with a well-known, public brand, has a hand-in-glove relationship with the government of this nation, and profits from the relationship?
That nation is the Cherokee Nation, which is a sovereign political entity within the United States, mostly in the state of Oklahoma. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tulsa is actually owned and operated by the Cherokee Nation. The disenfranchisement of former slaves, known as Cherokee Freedmen, has occured because a recent amendment to the Cherokee constitution has finally wound it's way through the court system and is being enforced in the upcoming election for chief. Freedmen will be prohibited from voting. The Freedmen, formerly considered Cherokee citizens, will likely become 'non-citizens' for the forseeable future. DailyKos user jmbranum has written about the Freedmen before and so has cookiebear.
According to Rob Capriccioso of Indian Country Today, the US federal government, specifically the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has cut off certain funding to the Cherokee Nation until this issue is resolved to it's satisfaction. And Barney Frank, the US Senator, has even weighed in. On the other hand, defenders of the current Cherokee government have declared that this is a attack upon their Tribal Sovereignty by the US Government, and is an atttempt at the "termination of the tribe’s existence". From their viewpoint, the right to define who is in and who is out of the tribe is fundamental to it's sovereignty.
Hard Rock's website says their message is "Love all. Serve all." Does that include the descendants of the slaves of the Cherokee? Of course, it's more complicated than my little ranty blog post makes it sound; the Seminole Tribe of Florida actually owns the umbrella corporate brand of Hard Rock. But I digress.
See Also
HUD Denies Cherokee Funding Over Freedmen Issue, Rob Capriccioso, September 8, 2011, Indian Country Today Media Network