After a month of organizing, over 200 Cherokee citizens and Native voices published an open letter to @ewarren calling on her to refute her claims to Cherokee heritage bc it normalizes White ppl appropriating our identity.
#StepUpWarren #CherokeeTruth
medium.com/@ewarrenisnotc…
#StepUpWarren #CherokeeTruth
medium.com/@ewarrenisnotc…
Warren and her supporters claim she is the right candidate because she listens, responds and changes to criticism. Today, we'll see if that virtue holds true.
If you're part of @TeamWarren I hope you stop, listen to Cherokee voices, and hold your candidate accountable.
If you're part of @TeamWarren I hope you stop, listen to Cherokee voices, and hold your candidate accountable.
We asked @ewarren to publicly state 3 things:
- like many White families, the story she grew up w/ of Cherokee heritage is simply false and it was wrong to repeat it.
- using DNA tests to claim Native identity is dangerous.
- Native ppl alone determine who is and who isn't Native
- like many White families, the story she grew up w/ of Cherokee heritage is simply false and it was wrong to repeat it.
- using DNA tests to claim Native identity is dangerous.
- Native ppl alone determine who is and who isn't Native
.@ewarren responded with a 12 page letter the @latimes made made available online here: documentcloud.org/documents/6786…
The response mostly restates her policy platform on Native issues and quotes about a dozen Native people who have said positive things about her in the past.
The response mostly restates her policy platform on Native issues and quotes about a dozen Native people who have said positive things about her in the past.
To her credit, Warren addressed 2 of our 3 demands: that only Native people determine who is and who is not Native American, and her choice to equate the results of a DNA testing to Native identity was wrong bc it undermined the foundation of tribal sovereignty.
Its a step in the right direction, but our 1st point--that her family story of Cherokee and Delaware ancestry is false--was not addressed.
To correct the misunderstanding Warren caused, the public doesn’t need a lengthy policy statement, they need an example.
To correct the misunderstanding Warren caused, the public doesn’t need a lengthy policy statement, they need an example.
Warren could be that example by admitting that her family story of Cherokee ancestry--like hundreds of thousands of other white ppl--is simply false. It would be a needed learning moment in a country where appropriating Cherokee identity is widely seen as acceptable.
We've responded to the campaign's letter with a request for further dialogue. So far, they have not responded.
