Cherokees Expel Descendants of Former Slaves

In an effort to remove all things black from their tribal history, the Cherokee Nation launched an attack on the history of the presence of Africans in the tribe.  After Freedmen descendants won the right to citizenship, the tribal leaders immediately launched a national effort to smear the history of the Freedmen, using scare tactics, citing that Cherokee women were in danger and needed to be protected from the Freedmen, to other smears that "they will suck us dry." The tactics were similar to tactics of fear and hate seen in the deep south during the years of the Civil Rights movement.

This story has been covered in the national and international press and can be followed on the following sites:

Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/03/AR2007030301705.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/02/AR2007030201647.html

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/us/03cherokee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7513849

British Broadcast Corporation--BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6416735.stm