Elizabeth Warren’s heritage convenience
Who can legally claim to be a Native American? The Census Bureau defines American Indians as “people having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.” This held true during the 2010 Census administered by President Barack Obama. Other government agencies, including the Department of Justice, similarly stipulate that those claim- ing American Indian heritage must have “tribal affiliation or community attachment.”
Even if Sen. Elizabeth Warren,, DMass., wasn’t legally a tribal member, at the very least her care, compassion and community attachment should have manifested itself through her mentoring of native students or volunteer service. Unfortunately, she never bothered. Shelly Lowe, the executive director of Harvard University’s Native American Program, has said that Warren did not participate in events while Warren taught at Harvard.
As a legal scholar and law professor she certainly knew better, yet Warren made this spurious ancestral claim for years to help her climb the academic and professional ladder. Dave Raymond Woodbridge, Va.
USA TODAY OPINION
The claim that Sen. Elizabeth Warren made and that President Donald Trump has mocked is that Warren’s family geneology says her great-great-greatgrandmother was at least part Cherokee, which would make her a miniscule amount Native American. That’s in line with what the test shows. Trump and “conservatives” owe her an apology. Robert Earle
My family is replete with people claiming connections to Cherokee and Seminole Indians but, like Warren, share only a small percentage of their DNA. It’s not politics; it’s pride. Jerry Geiger