I posted this on the other thread for this topic. Again, I think there is some kind of unthinking turf guarding going on here.
As I understand it, and this could be wrong, but it appears that she checked the box for Native American ancestry on her employment profile, something that she had every right to do. Harvard chose to promote this as part of a “diversity” operation. She did not “claim” minority status, she acknowledged that she had Native American ancestry. Which she does. She has said it was generations removed. To blast her because she has said this in public is just craziness. Would you care to define how much ethnic percentage you need to have to claim that you have ethnic ancestry? The fact that my 3x great grandma was black does not mean I can claim to be black. It does not however mean that she did not exist, is not my ancestor or that it is shameful for me to acknowledge her. Look, I am white as white can be. No one would ever think otherwise. But my ancestry remains what it is. And to decide that I am not “permitted” to claim my ancestor is just craziness.
Oh how I’d love to see you say that to the face of a Native American who objects to what Warren just did (and not necessarily to what she did in the past).
Actually, I wouldn’t like to see that, because it sucks to watch minorities get ignored, yet again, when they point out (what may well be unconscious) racism.
No. While she has made mis-steps, I think Warren has been about as sensitive as possible while still addressing the accusations that she’s lied about her heritage. When I call out concern-driving trollies, I’m referring to all the people who have never in their lives stood with or for Native Americans, coming out of the woodwork to criticize Warren. People who think Leonard Peltier is a Start Trek actor or a French engineer are weighing in with concern about why Warren released her DNA test, and why now?
You know, the same people who said nothing when Trump called her “Pocohontas.” Hypocrites.
OK, so can we learn something from the 2016 election here? Keep Warren out front as a target for Trump, but run someone else in the end. The attacks on Clinton were garbage, but because of repetition people believed them and voted for Mr. Cleantheswamp. Warren is now damaged as a candidate, but can serve the progressive cause as a useful magnet for GOP/Fox hot air.
Still, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a progressive thing to agree with NAs/Indians who argue that what appears to be her first move in the Presidential Election Dance was a misstep. Here’s hoping she can recover.
What context? Is she “allowed” to have Native American ancestry? (I really don’t think you get a vote on that, it just is.) Is she “allowed” to acknowledge that? In what circumstances? Am I permitted to acknowledge my 3x great grandma? Just baffled as to how this is causing an uproar. She is not claiming tribal membership, benefits or privileges as far as I can see. I can see objection to the information you cite, and I agree that is some questionable action. But seriously, do you think the level of disgust being flung her way is warranted?
That seems to be the gist of the argument here. She claims Native American ancestry, acknowledges that it is generations past, and gets indignant criticism for claiming that ancestry. OK, if I am wrong, please educate me.
Honestly this whole thing feels kind of gross from all angles. In a lot of ways, it’s turning out to be a beat-for-beat replay of the whole “show us your birth certificate!” thing, which Trump also hyped endlessly. As soon as Obama finally folded and released it in a bid to finally put the nontroversy to rest, the goalposts shifted and a whole new set of non-evidence was ginned up to cast doubt on the new document. The same thing is happening here: Warren gets a DNA test that proves her point, but also gives just as much ammunition to detractors.
While I think the racist epithets from Trump and war-cries from Brown staffers are supremely inappropriate, I don’t think she’s handled this whole thing particularly well either. Indigenous groups are right to point out her rather fair-weather use of her claimed ancestry. She may well be proud of it, and great for her in that case, but it really does seem a bit Rachel Dolezal-y for her to have put it forward in the way that she did at Harvard.
The “neener neener I really do have NA ancestry” approach here just feels like it’s digging in and placing Warren’s need to be right above the needs of the communities being dragged through the muck by the epithets being thrown around by Republicans, when perhaps a more reasonable response would be along the lines of “My family is proud of our native ancestry, because there is nothing to be ashamed of for having it, and I am pleased that we now have DNA evidence to support my family’s stories. However, I also accept the criticisms from native tribes who feel that my use of that ancestry in the past has been inappropriate or insensitive, and I apologize. I do not feel that I am owed any sort of tribal membership, nor do I think it would be appropriate for me to seek it. Going forward, the best way to acknowledge and honor my family’s native ancestry is to do more to advance the interests and unique needs of native communities across the country. [insert reference to an actual conversation with native groups about priorities and cooperation here].”
You seem to think there’s no validity to any of the criticism. Trouble is, you’re also not effectively addressing any particular examples of that criticism.
I and others have provided links, and der Google Machine can provide more. Please educate yourself.
That’s almost word-for-word the statement Warren made.
From the Indian Country Today report @anon15383236 linked above:
“And I want to make something clear. I respect that distinction,” said Warren. “I understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes — and only by tribes. I never used my family tree to get a break or get ahead. I never used it to advance my career.”
Then, Warren made a promise to lift up Native people. “I’m here today to make a promise: Every time someone brings up my family’s story, I’m going to use it to lift up the story of your families and your communities,” said Senator Warren.
If she issues an apology, it should be directly to the Cherokee Nation. It probably shouldn’t be public.
[ETA] One of the very first points she makes is that this is a case of a bunch of white people very loudly shouting about what constitutions what is a Native American, and she points out that that is a major part of white supremacy, have the power and privilege to make that designation…
Here’s the difference: what I wrote was at least an attempt at being conciliatory. Warren, on the other hand, is being defiant. She’s going on an “I told you so” tour that emphasizes her technical genetic right to say that she has a Native American ancestor (which is fine), without taking into consideration the broader impact her actions have, or what she’s unintentionally saying about/for native peoples when she does this. “I never did it to get ahead” is barely an excuse, and it’s even less of an apology, which a lot of indigenous groups think she owes them. It’s great that she’s proud of her family for dealing with anti-indigenous discrimination in the past. What indigenous groups are saying – and have been saying since 2012 – is that Warren doesn’t really have a good defense for using that to claim any sort of Native American status (even in the abstract), and would she please actually just talk to someone from the Cherokee nation about this rather than going off on her own and shouting at people. The fact that she went all the way to Oklahoma to meet with her family and talk on camera about the test results and their oral history without ever actually including a Native American in the process at all is… bad. It’s bad. It just is. It’s the opposite of good.
Trump and the Republicans who did mock war-cries and tomahawk chops at her can be racist and vile by negatively stereotyping indigenous peoples in order to mock her, and Warren can rightly be seen as having appropriated something that those with more of an authoritative standing have declared she has no right to, even if she never did it for personal expediency. The two are not mutually exclusive. This whole “I’m obviously not Native American, but I have a little bit of Native American ancestry, and that’s enough to tick a box on this form because I have some genetic material from this group that I’ve never sought approval from and don’t plan to because that would be inappropriate” thing is splitting a hair that really shouldn’t be getting split.
I cringed.
You’re probably referring to this bit here:
The does not mention Mexican, Peruvian or Colombian heritage. It says that they used sequences coming from Mexico, Peru and Colombia for reference.
Mexico has been an independent nation for about 200 years preceded by about 300 years of colonial rule, advanced civilizations first appeared some 4,000 years before those conquering Europeans arrived and the region has been inhabited for possibly 20,000 years. This specific instance of the characterization of Mexican as ethnicity does not fit the racist narrative of discrete heredity that envelops people in the US and permeates their language.
That seems like a missed opportunity to do something right. Even just…listening, would be better than ignoring. You and @anon15383236 are very right about that.
