October 24, 2018
Page 13
O PINION
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Wadding into Sensitive Territory on Identity
Useful examples
on different
kinds of racism
J ill r iCharDson
Elizabeth
War-
ren recently released
DNA results as evi-
dence she has a Native
American ancestor.
Trump, meanwhile,
has been referring to
Warren as “Pocahontas” to ridi-
cule that claim.
The two show useful examples
of different kinds of racism.
Trump’s racism is obvious.
He’s using the name Pocahontas
as a racial slur. He means to tar-
get Warren, but he doesn’t mind
being hurtful to Native Americans
either.
Trump doesn’t seem to pay
much of a price for saying this.
His base apparently loves it, and
the rest of us seem to numb to be
shocked anymore. Trump’s doing
exactly what we expect him to do.
Warren’s gotten some criticism
too, though.
She’s a progressive Democrat,
and her base holds her to a higher
standard. They would never vote
for Trump anyway, and Warren
might run for president in 2020.
Warren’s base wants to vote for
someone who reflects their values.
But while liberals (specifically,
white liberals) usually abhor overt
by
racism, many still practice more
subtle forms of it. It’s less obvious
than when people use racial slurs
or clearly say they do not like a
specific ethnic group.
It’s when a white person treats
a person of color as if
they’re exotic, or fetishiz-
es them. Or when a white
person doesn’t notice or
care about racial dynam-
ics and inequality be-
cause they don’t have to.
Or when a white person
tive American ancestors? What
percent of your ancestry must
be Native American for you to
qualify?
That’s something for Native
American tribes to decide for
themselves, not for others to spec-
ulate on or decide for them.
The point is that Warren stepped
into a controversial issue without
much sensitivity for the people
who are most affected by it.
The Cherokee Nation issued a
statement disapproving of War-
related to it.
Some also say it was Elizabeth
Warren using Native American
identity to bolster her own polit-
ical career without concern for
how her use of it might harm Na-
tive Americans.
However, there are three take-
aways here. One is that if you
identify as a white liberal, there
are good odds that you could do
some learning about racial issues
and how to combat racism.
The second is that Warren
The Cherokee Nation issued a statement disapproving
of Warren’s use of a DNA test. One Native American
journalist, Jacqueline Keeler, said that Warren’s use of
DNA as evidence reinforces the idea of Native Americans
as a race and thereby undermines their claims of
citizenship in sovereign nations.
doesn’t believe a person of color
has faced racism just because the
white person didn’t see it and has
never experienced it themselves.
In this case, Warren is stepping
into a sensitive issue. For one
thing, what makes someone a Na-
tive American?
Do you have to be raised within
the culture of your tribe? How can
one measure that? Who gets to be
enrolled as members of each spe-
cific tribe?
Or do you have to have Na-
ren’s use of a DNA test. One Na-
tive American journalist, Jacque-
line Keeler, said that Warren’s use
of DNA as evidence reinforces
the idea of Native Americans as a
race and thereby undermines their
claims of citizenship in sovereign
nations.
In this case, the liberal white
racism may seem subtle: It was
Elizabeth Warren thinking she had
the right to speak on Native Amer-
ican identity without checking
with Native Americans and be-
coming educated about the issues
could try to set things right now
by educating herself and learning
how she can best advance the in-
terests of Native Americans in her
political career. She should listen
to Native American leaders.
The third is that what Trump
did was worse. Far worse. We
must remember that, too.
OtherWords columnist Jill
Richardson is pursuing a PhD
in sociology at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in
San Diego. Distributed by Other-
Words.org.
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