https://jonathanturley.org/2018/02/16/warren-i-am-part-native-american/#more-133591Sen. Elizabeth Warren made a surprising appearance at the National Congress of American Indians this week and made an even more surprising statement that she is indeed part Native American. I have been critical of the use of this label (and name calling generally) by the President and others. The sudden discussion of the controversy was unexpected by Warren. The assumption for years is that Warren had backed off from this claim made during her academic career.
She was counted by Harvard Law School as a Native American. Indeed, we first discussed this issue when Warren was still an academic and her claim that claiming to a Native American offered no advantage to her career. The speech comes at an interesting time for academia where more and more schools are allowing students to not simply choose their gender (or non-gender) but also their race.
In the videotape of the speech, Warren went after President Donald Trump for his name calling over her claim and argued that the use of “Pocahontas” was engaging in “disrespect of Native people.”
However, she then said this: “I get why some people think there’s hay to be made here. You won’t find my family members on any rolls, and I’m not enrolled in a tribe. … I respect that distinction . . . I never used my family tree to get a break or get ahead. I never used it to advance my career. . . . my mother’s family was part Native American.”