On May 26, the following broadcast was heard by thousands of people in Alaska and it was broadcast from the Bob and Mark Show of radio station KWHL in Anchorage: “Are you out of cash? Do you need to make some quick money? Do you have an old Native lying around?” Well, we will give you cash for Tlingits.”
There may be some people that don’t want to address this issue because it’s too unpleasant to even discuss. No one is required to address this issue. In our communities, there are leaders who can address this on behalf of the people. So these questions are for community leaders political and non-political because of the long-range and widespread effect it has on all the people living in this Great Land. These are the questions: What do you think about this broadcast? What do you think should be done about this broadcast? What would you tell your children if they heard this kind of broadcast? Are there some ways that all of us can work together to put an end to this?
I believe the following actions should be taken. The FCC should revoke KWHL’s broadcast license. If that can’t be done, when KWHL tries to renew their license to broadcast, it should be denied in the public interest. The radio station itself should be charged with making inflammatory speech about Native people and for issuing fighting words to Tlingit people. They should be fired from that radio station.
Albert Judson