Jackpot By David Plotz Analysis

The Californian Indians have long suffered from the cruel treatment and injustices brought upon them by white settlers, an unforgivable past. Indians were cheated and scammed, and continue to face oppression, limiting their success and leaving them in poverty. In “Jackpot”, author David Plotz justifies beneficial Indian gambling casinos. Indians should be granted compensation for their years of suffering. The successful Indian gambling casinos have not only helped tribes to rise up out of poverty, but have economically, politically, and socially benefitted the entire state.
Socially, Indian gambling casinos benefit both Indians and non-Indian communities. Besides providing entertainment, casinos have “create thousands of jobs, almost all
Private non-Indian gambling casinos argue against the tax-free benefits of Indian casinos; however, these small privileges are long overdue for Indians. Another problem was that gambling tribes make “token efforts to share their wealth” and put aside some of their profits for non-gambling tribes; however, this money is not sufficient to sustain poverty-stricken non-gambling casinos. More tribes are attempting to gain federal recognition as sovereign Indian nations; however, the government has limited these attempts to limit more casinos. Is the inability to distribute the wealth to non-gambling tribes the fault of the casinos, or the government limiting the number of gambling casinos? Gambling casinos are important for California. Moving forward, if Indians are allowed to run their beneficial, prosperous casinos, all Californians will benefit and Indians will begin to flourish once more. The positive impact of the Indian gambling industry has positively shaped the state, moving it forward and away from its dark and shameful past. Indians have “endured uninterrupted exploitation, brutality, and sorrow” (27), and it is time for them to rise up from the ashes through their successful gambling industry. The gambling casinos are giving California a second chance at redefining society and relations between Indians and settlers. This is a gambling game that everyone may profit