Harold “Buster” Hatcher, chief of the Waccamaw Indian Tribe, whose 450 members make their home in the area of South Carolina’s Waccamaw River, has called out President Trump for his inhumane polices when dealing with immigrants, especially those of Hispanic origin.
“It kind of makes me angry when people who are immigrants themselves argue about another immigrant coming in. It’s like we’ve got this piece of cheese and you ain’t getting it. I despise greed,” he said.
Hatcher points out that in all of the terrorist acts, none have been committed by persons of Hispanic origin.
“So now,” he said, “We are going to line these guys up and learn to hate them.”
Hatcher made his comments during a taped interview with HCDP, which is attempting to help the Tribe gain federal recognition so it can provide proper burial for more than 600 of Waccamaw ancestors in the face of opposition from the federal government.
According to Chief Hatcher, the remains of those ancient Indians are currently being kept in boxes housed at various museums around the state. They are not on display; just stuffed unceremoniously into boxes and warehoused.
The problem, says Hatcher, stems from the fact that the federal government does not recognize the Waccamaws as an official Indian tribe, even though the state of South Carolina did so in 2005. Without this recognition, the ancestral remains are considered federal property and will not be released to the Tribe for burial.
During the course of our discussions with Chief Hatcher, he expressed his concern about the way the Trump administration is treating immigrants.
He makes a great point. President Trump’s policies in dealing with immigration, especially with respect to Hispanics, is cruel, inhumane and unjustified. It’s just another reason why it is critical that we work as hard as possible to end Republican control of the U.S. Congress and pave the way for a Democratic presidential win in 2020.
