Contentions has already explored the contradictions at the heart of Elizabeth Warren’s use of her slim ties to a Native American ancestor to portray herself as a member of a minority group at Harvard University Law School. The Democratic candidate has become something of a poster child for the excesses of the world of affirmative action, but the story got a bit more damaging today when the Boston Herald reported that in addition to using her status as a 1/32 Cherokee Indian, she also went native during her time at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Herald discovered that Penn (where she worked from 1987 to 1994), listed her as a minority in a “Minority Equity Report.” Warren’s office is probably right to say that her reputation was good enough in the world of liberal jurisprudence to have earned her a job at prestigious universities. But the revelation that she was touted as a minority hire at yet another school makes her claim that she was unaware of her status as an affirmative action case that much less credible. When added to the fact that she admits listing herself as a minority in the Association of American Law Schools directory for a decade (supposedly in order to meet “other Native Americans”), this new information gives the story new life.
Far from a distraction from more important issues, the WASPy Warren’s use of “family lore” to get a leg up as a faux minority at some of the country’s most prestigious institutions speaks volumes about the cynical way liberals think about affirmation action and their thinly-veiled contempt for real minorities.
The bad news for Warren is not just that she has been taken off message for weeks dealing with a campaign hiccup that no one could have foreseen. It is that she has been effectively branded as a fake when it was her authenticity as a tough-talking advocate of liberalism which launched her political career.
Even worse, the affirmative action fraud reminds Massachusetts voters of everything they hate about Harvard elites. Though the Bay State is reliably liberal and Democratic, it is a mistake to think most of its citizens worship at the altar of Harvard. Warren needed her race against incumbent Scott Brown to be one of liberal versus conservative. Instead, the Cherokee story will help him frame it as one of town versus gown. And that is a contest that gown will lose every time.
Indeed, Paw-paw was more into ethnic cleansing of Cherokees, not marrying them.
Warren is a self-proclaimed "fifth generation" Cherokee, but she has no discernable connection with any of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. n n"The Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB) have headquarters in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The UKB are mostly descendants of 'Old Settler' Cherokees who migrated to Arkansas and Oklahoma about 1817. The Cherokee Nation are related to the people who were forcibly relocated there in the 1830s under the Indian Removal Act. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is located on the Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina…In addition, there are Cherokee bands in the Southeast that are recognized as tribes by state governments, such as the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama, but not the U.S. federal government." (Wikipedia) n nIn which of the three-plus Cherokee tribes is Warren an accepted member? Does she claim relatives whose genetic material can confirm or discredit her claim? n nAbsent the evidence, Elizabeth Warren must be judged a fraud.
Warren
I'm a 'legal and documented' Cherokee. I belong to the Western Band Cherokee Nation out of Tahlequah. As a conservative-nothing would please me more than to see Warren defeated. nHowever, I am not part of the group think that she is a fraud. A good number of Oklahoma born can claim Cherokee heritage without any proof-it wasn't a positive thing to be known as an American Indian when the Dawes Census was taken and some-especially those with mixed blood- opted not to list their Cherokee heritage. Whether she is or not makes no difference to me. Most Cherokee do not have to use affirmative action to receive an education or get promotions. Educational scholarships are provided through Tribal membership. n I didn't apply for my card and Tribal membership until I was close to retirement age. (I have 4 Dawes roll numbers to qualify my heritage) On other sites- haven't seen it here- conservative posters found it necessary to trash the entire American Indian culture to show disapproval for Warren. That makes no difference to me -I abhor the progressive ideology. But it was revealing.
I'm not a Native American, nor do I live in Massachusetts. However, with Elizabeth Warren's campaign rhetoric as an indicator, she could do a lot that might affect me and my business adversely, if she was elected to the Senate. Consequently, I have more than a passing interest in what appears to be her fraudulent claim. n nFrom my perspective, it's all about character. Unless she presents credible evidence that she is, in fact, a Native American who holds membership in one of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes, she will reveal herself as cynical, self-serving, and untrustworthy. But more to the point, she will have insulted all Native Americans. n nBTW, I grew up near Cherokee, North Carolina.
pecanpii – it seems to me that the person insulting American Indians is Warren, not her critics. Please don't take offense. n nFrankly I don't care if a person is 10% Asian or 10% Latino or 10% Martian as long as they are competent and honest and ethical. The problem here is that Warren stupidly or naively or cynically gamed the system by making herself into a minority, in this case a protected minority, and that's just uncool. n nBy the way, I grew up in Okla. City.
Having been already familiar with the medical bankruptcy study she published while at Harvard, I already knew this woman was a fraud. That she claimed Native American bonus points to work through the liberal Ivy League cursus honorum comes as no surprise.
Sadly Mass. being a far leftist state who put God awful total Drunk and murder Teddy Kennedy in office the senate 6 different times knowing his low life all those 32 years . nWarren want be punished for being a professional Liar I am afraid. nIn a Conservative State she would be run out of town and ask not to seek election any longer to a trusted office .
Don't you think Pappy could have raped an Indian Squaw. I can guarantee that more than one Indian was abused on the trail. It's sad but that's human nature.
Can we get one thing straight: u2018Indiansu2019 or whatever you want to call them are no more u201cNativeu201d to this land than the rest of us.r nr nNATIVE : belonging to a particular place by birth.r nr nBy this definition u2013 anyone born here in America is a Native American. It doesnu2019t matter when their ancestors came here, be it 100 years ago or 100o years ago.r nr nArcheological evidence has shown that humans developed elsewhere, so everyone here is an Immigrant. In fact, there is evidenced that the u201cNative Americansu201d as they are called, were actually the second set of immigrants to this continent. r nr n There is evidence that it was the solutreans that arrived first, whether they were wiped out by the Second wave of immigrants u2013 the Indians or u201cNative Americansu201d isnu2019t known, but the bottom line is that INDIANS ARE NOT NATIVE AMERICANS.r nr nCall them what they truly are: Immigrants, just like the rest of US.
Simply put BEING INDIAN moves you to head of the Line as well as the pay Line . nMuch like Blacks that get 20-25 points on test for being Black in a supposed color blind society . nEQUAL JUSTICE SOCIETY ?