The Mike & Molly Indian joke did not go over well with the Arizona tribal members who were the subject of the alcoholism joke that aired on the CBS show last week.

Arizona tribal members say that they're shocked by the episode of sitcom Mike & Molly that made fun of a serious social problem on many American Indian reservations - alcoholism.

In the offending episode of Mike & Molly, a character joked about drunken Indians in Arizona. Arizona is home to 21 federally recognized American Indian tribes.

The joke was made by Mike's mother, played by Rondi Reed. The show stars Melissa McCarthy and Billy Gardell, and airs on Mondays, and debuted in September 2010.

The character said, "Arizona? Why would I move to Arizona? It's nothing but a furnace full of drunk Indians."

Despite the ban on drinking and selling alcohol in most reservations, alcoholism still plagues border towns or places where the ban is circumvented by bootleggers.

Although alcoholism is a problem in itself, it also represents a larger social issue of poverty. Alcoholism is also linked to hopelessness and a history of trauma within American Indian families, according to the AP.

Erny Zah, a spokesman for the Navajo Nation, explained, "You can see somebody who is drunk and tripping over themselves and it's easy to make fun of them. But the disease itself isn't funny, the coming home late at night, possibly beating on family members, the absence of family members, the fear it instills in a lot of children."

The Native American Journalists Association called on CBS to apologize due to the inappropriate use of humor at the expense of Arizona tribes.

NAJA President Rhonda LeValdo said, "I think a lot of times people make excuses for when they do those type of jokes or sarcasm. To me, it's not funny making fun of a minority group. Are we supposed to be the entertainment for mainstream?" Le Valdo is from Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico.

CBS spokesman Chris Ender declined to comment.

Zah said that an apology wouldn't fix the negative perception of American Indians that the show promoted in airing the joke, but he added that joking about alcoholism negates the progress tribes have made and their efforts to improve the problem.

He concluded, "I would hope the rest of the country would be educated enough to understand we are more than what that comment made us out to be. We have educated people who are in the highest parts of the government, science, everywhere within this country."