As a child growing up in rural Arizona, Ina Mapes remembers her mother as a highly discreet woman who rarely expressed her personal feelings except when it came to one particularly incendiary topic: Did Mapes’s father, a raven-haired lawyer, have Native American roots, or did he not? Mapes’s grandmother maintained that he had one-quarter tribal blood. But her mother wanted to hear nothing of it.
“My mother did not approve of Indians, and she insisted that my father was not an Indian,” said Mapes, 77, of Catalina, Ariz. “In those days, it was not a plus to be an Indian, not at all. She said that Granny, my father’s mother, was just making it up and she did not believe it.”
Comments
This is the American story. We pull apart, come together, and repeat the cycle. We had taboos but as individuals were attracted to each other. When people mingle some or many have children together. If our DNA is checked we are more than we thought we were. However most histories are passed down, some documented, some not. However they have no importance to this election. Scott Brown and his minions do not have the issues on their side so they are make stuff up. It is surprising that the Globe continues to foster this irrelevant trivia. This article however only confirms what Elizabeth Warren has said all along. For Brown supporters it is all right to take the Senator's background at face value with even less confirmation to back it up. The main thing is both have come to a point in life that they can rightfully vie for a position to represent the State of Massachusetts and the nation. They are educated public people. Now it is time to see what they stand for. In Sen Brown's case he has a voting record and for both there are life accomplishments, positions taken, and what groups back them. The first debate is Thursday night at 7pm. We are electing someone to represent our interests and values. Since both are qualified by law we should listen to what direction for the country they seek, what laws they feel are needed, and which ones are not. We should also know who they would confirm for the Supreme Court and what Presidential decisions on War and Peace would get their vote.
“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.” -attributed to George Orwell The Globe "should" be printing that which Elizabeth Warren does not want to be printed. Regarding Scott Brown's congressional voting record: Scott is one of the U.S. senators "least" likely to vote with their own party; John Kerry is on of the U.S. senators "most" likely to vote with their own party.
Coemgen, when 'least likely' means 95% of the time I don't see the difference with 'most likely'.
Why does the Globe have to rehash this. All speculation. Get back to us when you have confirmation.
I no longer live in Mass. so it has little impact upon me. But why does anyone care about this story anymore? I don't get the point of it. There are mixed opinions regarding my family its background. Isn't that true of everyone? We accept the story that most fits our vision of ourselves. Apparently Ms. Warren was told this took pride in it and believed it. So what?
The story is important because of how she uses this claim to further her career; possibly at the expense of someone who is truly a minority. Assuming her family history is true, she is only 1/32 Native American. How can anyone in good conscience use that as a basis for claiming minority status?
That is the real story here. Once again, the Globe dances around this issue while trying to throw up a cloud of smoke around Warren's claim.
If the regulations hold that you can use it. Why wouldn't you use it? I find the story can of fascinating because some people seem to have the sense it has some kind of relevancy to the persons integrity. Yet it seems to me all of us for the most part view ourselves and our heritage as it is expressed to us. I don't know to be honest. Generally speaking when I advise people regarding access to certain things I generally look for anything that will give them a leg up just as I would in the realm of private enterprise.
When is Warren going to consent to the release of her employment records at UPenn and Harvard? Why hasn't she done so already? Where is the transparency? Where is the integrity? Doesn't she think she needs to earn the trust of voters? Do different standards apply to her?
I haven't followed the story closely but does any of this really matter if she believed what she was told was true? If grandma whatsherface or someone said you're part this wouldn't you believe it. I am half Turkish and half German although grandma insists there is a smidgen of Irish. I still consider myself Turkish. Does that mean I'm doing something wrong. I just don't see the importance of this story.
Exactly. Where's Romney's tax returns?
Here we are still facing huge problems that will define the contours of our lives and those of our children for the rest of the century. The Globe sees fit to put on the front page a story that, among other things, pits the memory of a 99 year old woman against others of her generation. Hasn't this topic been beaten to death? We have to decide what path to follow to improve the economy. We have to figure out what to do about war and peace. Tens of thousands of young men and women have died based on these kinds of decisions. Do I really care what Elizabeth Warren's second cousin thinks she remembers about what an aunt said to a seven year old girl fifty years ago? In the Middle East there are plots that would involve us in a new war there. The incredibly complicated issues of heath care reform will either be shaped by an enlightened electorate or by lobbyists and other inside players who are looking out for their own narrow interests rather than the general good. Scott Brown and the Fox news types would have us look closely at the irrelevant while they take care of business without real scrutiny.
I am sure that Elizabeth Warren has .08% of Indian blood in her veins. Just like I am sure many in this country that have ancestors going back a few generations in this country have black or Indian blood relations somewhere. But obviously Warren should not have put on an employment application that she was Indian. I am sure many of us have remote amount of African American blood from ancestors too but that is not what declaring or getting minority status is about. You need to look like a minority to say you are a minority. If it is not easily recognizable than it is good for family lore but not for job classifications.
If the candidates were discussing the real issues, this story would be dead by now. Warren should just admit that she made a mistake checking "Indian" on the forms and end this. I don't hear about Brown's lies any more.
1/32= .03
People, this is so simple if you've ever lived on Oklahoma as I did 30 years ago. As a young Massachusetts boy I was quite surprised by how many friends and people I met who claimed Indian ancestry. It was almost as if this were a quiet badge of honor. To that generation of Oklahomans it had become 'cool'. Nobody thought twice about it. It was understood.
Here in Massachusetts it is unfathomable. We have no quirky tradition of this. (we have plenty of other, but not this). What in Oklahoma is understood with a wink and a smile, we think is a character flaw. Wedon't 'get it'.
Yes, in Massachusetts we don't 'Get it' about falsifying federal diversity reports and 'rigging the system' of affirmative action to pretend to be a minority when you are not, denying an actual minority and giving cover to Harvard.
When I grew up with kids who said they Irish or Lebanese or Italian I'm pretty sure they had not done genealogy studies or DNA testing--they simply believed what their parents and grandparents told them. When they filled out applications that asked about their ancestry they gave the nationalities that were told to them by their parents and grandparents. If Elizabeth's grandmother told her she had Native American roots, why would Elizabeth doubt it? What's the big deal?
My father told me an old story YEARS ago that my real name was MacMoore.....MacMoore I said thoroughly surprised because I thought I was 100% Jewish. There was of course no proof of Scottish ancestry but later I connected with a cousin whom I never knew who also knew that funny story. WE became lifelong friends. So much for the veracity of ethic background. No one really knows all the composition of one's DNA. We all began in Africa so MacMoore -- go figure! These stories mean NOTHING but the other side of course will use anything they can to besmirch a candidate that is 100% GREAT and that is provable!
I also come from a family with stories about Native American ancestry. Because I grew up in New England and that part of the family tree was in Louisiana I never really felt connected to it. Had I grown up closer to that part of the family and that part of the country this "heritage" might have seemed more real and I might have been more likely to claim it. So do I have Choctaw blood running through my family tree? I don't know. My mother talked about an old aunt who looked "really Indian" and if I showed you a photo of my mother, particularly as a young woman, and I told you she was part Native American you might believe it. My first year in college a prof once asked everyone with Indian blood to raise their hands. I rose my hand and someone laughed at me, saying derisively "A white Indian?" That was the last time I laid any claim to that part of my ancestry. Elizabeth Warren grew up in a time and place where Indian ancestry was a very real thing and I totally understand how those family stories became a part of who she believed she was. The only people who are going to hold this against her are people who are looking for an excuse not to like her.
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One way or the other, November just can't arrive soon enough!
So far as I have been able to tell, the only people whom this story continues to interest are the sad sacks who spend their days trolling online fora such as this one, engaging in meaningless flame wars. So congratulations on appealing to one deranged segment of your audience. I just wouldn't expect a call from the Pulitzer Prize Committee.
The point is, even if she has some small percentage American Indian blood, it's inconsequential, and she unethically used it to her advantage claiming minority status.
Except that all the reports are that she *didn't* use it to her advantage.
THIS FALLS INTO THE WHO CARES CATEGORY. Elizabeth knows economics. I do not care if she was born into the Chicken Soup tribe. I only care that someone will be in the Senate who cares about the 99% whicih is 99% of most of us and not the 1%. Brown lies ALL the time. He is NOT for most of you as the Republican Party is NOT for most of you. If you want quality and excellence you WILL give Elizabeth Warren your vote. If you just care about a guy in a truck then well he's probably for you. One would THINK your economic well being would be put before a TRUCK!
Should the candidate's integrity be considered when entering the voting booth? That's the reason why Warren, a Democrat, is down in the polls in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by 3 to 1. Integrity does matter. No one voted for Scott Brown because he drives a pickup truck and most people don't believe that Warren's economic policies will benefit them or the US economy yet they will clearly benefit a small segment of the population.
Excellent, thank you! You have given a big green light to this white guy also checking the box on future employment applications, and his kids on college applications etc. It doesn't matter what you are, it just matters if you FEEL a little minority-ish. Awesome!
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It's seems clear to me that regardless of any credible evidence identifying her heritage, one thing is clear, she was not lying about it. Clearly these stories are what she heard and learned growing up. Ridiculous and simply nasty politics that the issue has and continues to be debated and disputed.
You have been drinking too much cool aid. Even her own family knows that she is a fraud.
Unlike you Cindyloulou, I read this and other articles with eyes wide open. Did you even read it? Soundls like not. Seems like you a soundbite gird. That says a lot.
The confusion of politically correct academia knows no limits.
Is it, or is it not, proper and respectful for individuals and groups to invoke Indian (pardon me, Native American) identity and symbolism?
Not for Stanford University (formerly the Stanford Indians). Not for Dartmouth College (formerly the Dartmouth Indians). Not for the University of North Dakota (formerly the Fighting Sioux).
No. These sorts of symbols are deemed by academic liberals (rather then by the Native Americans themselves whose culture the symbols celebrate) to be offensive to Native Americans.
But somehow the same people consider it perfectly respectful of Native American culture for Professor Box-checker to invoke dubious claims of Cherokee heritage to giver herself a leg up in academic hiring.
And does anyone familiar with the reality of affirmative action as it exists in liberal academia believe for a moment the claims of U Penn and Harvard that Professor Warrens gender and claimed Native American antecedents played no role in her selection?
This article concludes by saying that it's not surprising she waited until adulthood to "embrace her heritage". Except, she hasn't embraced her heritage, she runs from it. She never met with the Harvard Native American group, she wouldn't meet with Native Americans asking to meet with her at the Massachusetts state DNC convention OR the National DNC convention. I guess you are saying that "Embracing her Heritage" means checking the box as a Cherokee on the directory of legal scholars used for hiring decisions at Harvard, or on employment applications that will never see the light of day.
Who the F'en cares about this, get on with the problemns that MA has. Please Sally write about something useful.
And by the way, anyone who would waste more then a few words on this subject should get a life.
I care that a women cheated a real minority out of a job. I care about the person who is in office is not a fraud. I care about affirmative action and it goes to the right person. I care about electing a person who is honest and has character. I suggest you get a life.
Before spouting off you might review the record. At the time that listing appeared in the Harvard Directory 13 women out of 85 or so were on the roster. Just by being female she was in the minority. Also at the time any of this began she had a distinguished career and was noted for her teaching, research, and writing. So Scott Brown gets you all in a lather when his background does not quite pan out according to several family members. He also pals around with Kings and Queens, is called on every 3 minutes by the White House, and, oh yes, he has personally viewed the Bin Laden photos. You better examine his integrity before loading up accusations against Elizabeth Warren that patently false. If this is the only way your candidate can win, he will surely lose. I give the people of Massachusetts a great deal more credit than the crap you throw around from his campaign.
Elizabeth Warren is no more Native American than my Irish/Scottish husband...my grandmother was a full blooded NAVAJO INDIAN, born on a reservation in NEW MEXICO so, if anyone has the right to check off the American Indian box on applications it's ME!!!! GO SCOTT BROWN, we don't need a liar & cheat in the Senate.
Hey Sally....how about a story on why Massachusetts would vote for a carpetbagger with no roots in our (I am assuming you are a native) state. Why do Massachusetts liberals fall in love with "foreign" pseudo intellectuals. The union members vote "D" because the Democrats give them everything they want and socialist interlopers like Warren "ride the wave".
Maybe for the same reason y'all fall for carpetbagger Republicans (Mitt Romney, Bill Weld). You really are unhinged, sport.
I'm with you on this question Mike. I've written before that I'm an Independent holding my nose and votin for Warren, but I am very unhappy as how she came to power in this state without actually climbing the ladder. Though I feel she is a better candidate then Brown, I can not embrace how and why she was "delivered" to the votors.
"faked being a Cherokee Indian to gain Minority status for college benefits" That is completely false. There is no record, anywhere, of her declaring minority status for "college benefits" or for any other application purposes. We know she explicitly declined to declare it for a minority applicant program at Rutgers, and we know she listed race a "white" in employment records at the university of Texas. She only informed Penn of her background sometime after she had been hired. A Harvard officer who hired her has stated publically that any questian of Indian heritage had nothing to do with her being hired. Why are the Republicans trying so hard to promote a lie.
Save your breath these Warren bashers are employees of the Brown campaign. I have seen the paychecks.
This women is disgusting. Year after year she listed herself as native American in the school directory. Stories were published by Harvard that she was NA. NEVER once did she correct them. Never! In her last job she did the same thing. Funny, did these colleges just guess that she was Native America? No, this fraud told them.
year after year ... until she got the job! And that cover story about wanting to meet 'people like her' ? Never met with on-campus Native American groups, or the Cherokee that wanted to talk to her at the conventions. 100% system-rigging phony.
year after year ... until she got the job! And that cover story about wanting to meet 'people like her' ? Never met with on-campus Native American groups, or the Cherokee that wanted to talk to her at the conventions. 100% system-rigging phony.
This women cheated a REAL minority out of a job and cut the line. She gave the finger to every hard working women while doing it. So much for minorities and women's rights. It is disgusting that the far left nut jobs think she is innocent and this is not big deal. I guess character, value and morals don't count with the far left extremists. One more reason why I'm now a registered independent.
Do you have any evidence at all of this being true?
Women is plural (two or more). Woman is singular (one female person). You wouldn't sound like such a whacko if you got that right once in a while. You make a serious charge when you claim Warren cheated someone else out of a job. Prove it. Otherwise you are just spouting. There are reasons enough to pick one candidate over the other (voting record, positions on tax policy, health reform, etc) without resorting to immature invectives.
Will the Globe please count the words they have spent on this non-news story, e.g. no advantage to Warren.
Then, will the Globe count the words they have spent on Brown's lies about plagiarism, kings & queens, whose bill Obama signed, what stock Brown owned while he voted for tax breaks for big oil and banks, and why he says one thing and votes the opposite again and again and again: see equal pay, debt and tax breaks for big oil, transparency and the Disclose Act and more.
Why is the Globe so in the tank for Brown? Ms. Jacobs, do have a friend named Gail perhaps?