Letters to the Editor rarely solve any issues, and rather magnify or give a continued life to ongoing concerns, but here we are again. The letter from Richard Kane ["One Nation," Letters, February 12] is just such an example.

While I cannot say that I am 100-percent in favor of any gambling house on the East End, I wonder how many people truly understand the economic plight on the Shinnecock Reservation. While much finger-pointing and chest-beating continues, so too does the existence of the anomaly of life on the Shinnecock Reservation.

There may be other solutions—where are they? I tend to believe in our American system. In that system I do not see how the current atmosphere created by nay-sayers and personal interests, exaggerated and manipulated by politicians and proponents, can lead to anything but a gambling hall. Somebody had better wake up here—fast.

While the plight of the Native American in general has many origins, one thing is clear, Mr. Kane—the Native Americans are not immigrants under any definition! Respect needs to be an integral part of the wake-up call and may go a long way toward a beneficial solution. A lack of respect will lead to no good solution for anyone, Native Americans or otherwise.

TIM BEHRINGER
Southampton

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