re: #486 Killgore Trout

I don’t think it’s so much about lying, although that’s the wingnut accusation. She’s claiming a culture that isn’t really hers. I think this is a fair and honest representation about how native Americans feel about it…
Elizabeth Warren and the Politics of Being Indian

Read the whole thing for the complete nuance but I think that sums it up pretty well. It’s not about genetics or physical appearance. It’s about culture.

From the end of that essay:

In this case, it’s as if conservatives have been storing up all the unoriginal stereotypes of Indians they can think of, just waiting for a chance to unleash them all in one gushing flow of digital racist vomit. On Twitter this was manifested through the trending hashtag #ElizabethWarrenIndianNames which included such zingers as Pocca-hot-mess (a clever variation on the tired Pocca-hot-ass) and Lia-watha. Meanwhile, Ann Coulter at her ever-insightful best wrote a piece called “Elizabeth Warren’s Indian Name: Dances with Lies” which opens with, “Elizabeth Warren, who also goes by her Indian name, ‘Lies on Race Box,’ is in big heap-um trouble.”

If Elizabeth Warren hasn’t been a victim of racialized verbal violence before in her life, she certainly is now. Welcome to the good life.

There’s other good stuff in there too, but I would add what Gus said:

re: #498 Gus

Oh please. It’s not just an attack on Elizabeth Warren for perhaps an ill advised self identification. This is about a larger attack from the right-wing against minority status, EOE, diversity, multiculturalism, Harvard and what they see as a “left wing” academia.

SNAFU