Here we go again
P resident Trump insults Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts by calling her “Pochahantas” in front of World War II heroes. Navaho code talkers.
The liberal Twitter world went nuts. Somehow Trump was insulting the Navaho Marines who helped win World War II against Japan working as communicators in their native language. I doubt they were insulted. More likely than not they agreed with the President because she is the one that lied that she was part “Native American.”
“Pochahantas” is not a racial slur as portrayed by CNN’S Don Lemon. Any more than the name of Washington’s NFL football team, the Redskins is.
That case was set aside by U.S. Courts and the name “Redskins” lives on. Thankfully, the out-oftown Indians from upstate New York, the Oneidas, lost the court case. They financed the effort with casino profits. To me, when I think of the Washington Redskins I think of the Dallas Cowboy’s coach Don Landry walking into a Western saloon in a television ad for American Express and commenting on watching out for Redskins, as several giant professional football players dressed in Redskin uniforms come out of the saloon. Loved that ad. Then there is the time during my radio career that the “Viejas Tribe” (Vee-eh-haas) hired me to do a live radio show from their new outlet center 32 miles up Interstate 8. A caller called in and told the tribal chief I shared the microphone with that he was driving down to do some shopping and to meet us personally. The man was a fan of my talk show. He asked, “How can I tell you guys apart?” I put my forearm against the chief’s and said, “well you can’t tell us part by our skin color because our skins are the same color.”
“I know,” I exclaimed, “He’s the guy with the pony tail.” Got a good laugh. A good laugh was missing today in the White House.
The issue has not gone away. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has decreed North Dakota must change their name from the “Fighting Sioux” because Sioux Indians are insulted. Some Sioux tribes object and others don’t.
Zeroing in on home several alleged Native Americans tried to get my alma mater to change the name of our teams — the Aztecs. There are no living Aztecs in the U.S. There might not be any in Mexico. The student council passed on the question to the student body and 93 percent voted to keep the name.
Nonetheless, recently the San Diego State University Faculty Senate voted to have San Diego State University do away with the “Aztec Warrior” that opens each football game in full historically authentic costume. The Senate listened to a group of pinheads that claimed the historically accurate costume was demeaning.
Let’s be clear. The Aztec Warrior is not demeaning. Only someone firing on seven cylinders would even say that in public.
Getting back to the Chief of the Viejas Band of Kummeyay Indians. I asked him about the controversy at the time. He replied “chances are you have Aztec blood in you, I don’t. It’s your decision.”
I vote to keep the name, the Aztec warrior, the Redskins and wish that Elizabeth Warren hadn’t lied about being part “Native American.” Raoul Lowery Contreras is a conservative columnist. His column appears on Fridays in The Recorder. He can be contacted at hispaniccommentator@gmail.com.