South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is crying over melted ice cream.
It all started when ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s, a longtime ally of the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities, called for the return of “stolen Indigenous land” in its Fourth of July message then suggested we start with Mount Rushmore.
“This 4th of July, it’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it. Learn more and take action now,” the company tweeted, along with a link with more information about how the federal government seized the Black Hills, where Mount Rushmore is located, from the Great Sioux Nation after gold was discovered there in 1877 in a direct violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
Well, this didn’t sit so well with Noem.
The gay-hating governor, who recently called for the banning of drag shows on college campuses, immediately ran to Fox News, where she said she’s not gonna listen to “a bunch of liberal Vermont businessmen who think they know everything about this country and haven’t studied our history.”
She went on to call Mount Rushmore “the greatest symbol of our freedom” in the country’s history, ignoring the fact that in 1980 the Supreme Court actually ruled that the land was, indeed, stolen and awarded the tribes financial compensation. The tribes refused to accept any payment, however, saying they didn’t want money. They just their land back.
Over 40 years later, they’re still waiting.
“We can learn from the men on that mountain,” Noem told Fox News, referring to the four presidents whose faces are carved into the mountain–George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. “We can do better, but boy did they lead us through some challenging times.”
“We should be proud of America and knock off what Ben & Jerry’s is doing,” she added. “They don’t have any idea what they’re doing.”
But she didn’t stop there.
Noem followed up her Fox News appearance by posting a photo of herself outside a Zesto Drive-In, a fast food franchise known for its soft serve ice cream.
“Zesto’s > Ben and Jerry’s”, she captioned the tweet.
Some conservatives are now calling for a boycott of “woke” Ben & Jerry’s, which is owned by Unilever, hoping to create another Bud Light controversy. So far, however, it doesn’t seem to be having too much of an impact.
Per Newsweek:
As the controversy surrounding Ben & Jerry’s Fourth of July message continues to unfold, with the company not having posted any new messages on Twitter, stocks for Unilever suffered slightly on Thursday.
According to Google Finance data, stocks for the company were 0.53 lower by the early hours of Thursday. Unilever, a London-based multinational consumer packaged goods company, owns some 400 brands in total—which makes it unlikely that the slight drop is a direct result of boycott calls facing Ben & Jerry’s.
While Ben & Jerry’s is a big brand for Unilever, the company also owns Dove, Magnum, Hellmann’s, Persil, Knorr, Vaseline and Wall’s.
We’re pretty sure Ben & Jerry’s knew what it was getting itself into with that 4th of July message. And considering the company is valued at $1 billion, we’re also pretty sure it doesn’t care if Noem prefers 99¢ soft serve from Zesto.
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Kristi Noem’s hate and hypocrisy know no bounds
abfab
She went on to call Mount Rushmore “the greatest symbol of our freedom” in the country’s history,
And there it is. Stunning.
dbmcvey
God forbid she do anything to improve the lives of the tiny population of her big state.
abfab
Really, and with the amount of cocaine in her state she’s worried about a spoonfull found in The White House. Don Jr was alawys a genious when it came to hiding his drugs,
irene802
If Ben and Jerry’s are for real, they should start with the Abenaki people who have thought of the corporation’s home state of Vermont as their home for thousands of years. They should just make sure they’re working with the true Abenaki.
Over ten years ago, Vermont recognized four groups of so-called ‘Abenaki tribes’ who are not indigenous at all, but actually groups of white settlers who claim Indigenous identities despite an utter lack of Abenaki ancestry.
The actual Abenaki? -? with reserves in Quebec, Canada and citizens throughout the region? -? were not allowed to address the legislature when the Vermont state recognition process was being considered. They have been speaking out for a long time about this identity theft and cultural erasure.
If Ben and Jerry’s or anyone else in Vermont wants to give land back to indigenous people, that’s great. But in order for that to be sincere, they shouldn’t start with a tweet, but by reaching out to the Odanak and Wolinak First Nations.