Students from Creighton and two other Nebraska universities have called for a boycott to Anheuser-Busch because of their alcohol sales in the town of Whiteclay, Nebraska to the residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
President of Whiteclay Awareness Arts and Sciences Senior Dave Fuxa announced the boycott at a January 22nd Press Conference. The slogan for the boycott is “Boycott Bud, Support Pine Ridge,” and it aims to encourage people to boycott Bud Light, Budweiser, Bud Select, and other “Bud” products.
For decades the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have struggled with alcoholism. The reservation is also located in one of the poorest counties in the country, and one in four children born on this reservation are diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located in South Dakota, while the town of Whiteclay is in Nebraska and located only two miles away. Although only 14 people live in the town of Whiteclay, they generate 4.3 million dollars in alcohol sales every year, the majority of which comes from Pine Ridge, where alcohol is banned under tribal law.
There are four liquor stones in the town of Whiteclay, and 13,000 cans of beer are sold everyday. Anheuser-Busch was the company targeted for this boycott because they comprise 78% of the sales at Whiteclay. Although Anheuser-Busch also owns beers such as Stella Artois, Michelob, and Busch, Whiteclay Awareness is only calling for a boycott of those beers with “Bud” in the title.
Fuxa has been working on this issue since high school at Creighton Prepatory School. “When we were seniors in high school we really tried to politically change things. We met with state senators and talked about the White Clay issue, but nothing came of it.”
Fuxa also sent a letter to President Obama, who has the power to reinstate the 50 square mile buffer zone, which was removed by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.
“We tried to do it politically because Whiteclay is an atrocity, it shouldn’t be happening,” said Fuxa. “We politically tried to change things but got no traction.”
Fuxa has tried contacting Anheuser-Busch but has received no response. “In August we sent them a letter threatening to boycott. The next step was to affirm that this was the right thing to do.” After a visit to Whiteclay in November, Fuxa decided that a boycott was the right course of action.
“Our demands of the boycott is that Anheuser-Busch close the four stores and build a rehabilitation center. One solution we’re giving them is to buy the stores and retire the liquor licenses because there’s a law that a brewery cannot own a liquor license,” said Fuxa.
Arts and Sciences Junior John Brennan signed the boycott because he believes Anheuser-Busch is taking advantage of the Native American’s genetic predisposition to alcoholism. “I do not agree with that sort of business model, and choose to be an informed consumer and not support Budweiser from my end.”
Another student who has decided to take part in this boycott is Arts and Sciences Senior Mathew Nolan. For Nolan, exposure to the issue of White Clay during high school made him realize this was something he wanted to take part in.
“In the last year, after seeing the White Clay Awareness group step up and start taking I wanted to find a way to help.”
Recently, Fuxa has been contacted by various media sources about the boycott, including CNN, The Omaha World-Herald, and KETV, and Fuxa hopes that this media attention will lead the boycott to spread across the country.
“The inhibiting factor in this is awareness, the struggle has been educating people on the issue and telling them how they can make a difference because its such a complex issue,” said Fuxa, who believes that those people who are aware of the issue at Whiteclay and Pine Ridge have been supportive, but many people still have questions regarding the boycott.
“One of the biggest criticisms is that this is an element of personal responsibility and that Anheuser-Busch isn’t doing anything wrong and it’s the Native Americans who should stop drinking,” said Fuxa, who compares this issue to the fast food industry.
“We could tell our government to serve healther items, but we saw that as consumers we demanded that fast food serve healthier items, and we changed that industry,” said Fuxa.
Whiteclay Awareness hopes that the power of the consumers will have a similar impact on this issue as well.
“It’s a big deal when a group of people, especially students, make a decision like this together. I believe simply changing to a different company to support, on a university-wide front, can have a huge impact,” said Brennan.
Other speakers at the press conference included Mary Wade, Vice President of Whiteclay Awareness; Lexie LaMere, a member of the Winnebago Tribe who gave a personal testimony; UNO graduate student Dan Walsh; and UNL Senior Cameron Popp, who worked with Fuxa on the Whiteclay issue at Creighton Prepatory School.
“This issue has been going on for 100 years, and I think that’s long enough. I am just trying to be as effective as possible in spreading this boycott. Hopefully in the next year something else will happen,” said Fuxa, who added, “There’s no perfect solution to Whiteclay but we think this is a good start,” said Fuxa
Those wishing to sign the petition against Anheuser-Busch can do so here: http://www.change.org/petitions/anheuser-busch-end-exploitive-liquor-sales-in-whiteclay-ne-open-rehabilitation-centers?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_before_sign