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Confirmed – Elizabeth Warren knowingly self-identified as Native American on law association forms

Confirmed – Elizabeth Warren knowingly self-identified as Native American on law association forms

Democratic Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren has been all over the newspapers the past several days after a revelation that Harvard Law School identified her as a Native American faculty member in the mid-1990s.  The claim to Native American status came as a shock to the media and the Scott Brown campaign.

Warren contends that she was unaware of the designation by HLS, and that it played no role in her hiring.  Warren asserts that her Native American heritage is family lore, and based on what she has been told not any specific documentation she is aware of.

Subsequently, David Bernstein discovered that in annual reports by the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) from 1986-1994, Warren was listed as a minority faculty member.  Since AALS bases such information solely on what faculty self-reports, the information must have come from Warren herself.  The AALS directories, however, only identify whether the faculty member is “minority,” not what minority status is claimed.

There seems to be some uncertainty in news reports as to whether Warren filled out the AALS forms, and if so, whether she identified as Native American, with the Brown campaign demanding that she “come clean.”

I spoke this afternoon with Alethea Harney, Warren’s campaign press secretary, and confirmed several key details.

Harney acknowledged that the minority status reported by Warren to AALS was Native American, and that while Warren does not remember the precise forms, she believes there was a box or other designation to be selected for Native American.

The AALS reporting was the only time Warren self-identified as Native American as far as Warren currently is aware, according to Harney, and Warren never has joined any Native American groups, or asserted any tribal memberships.

According to Harney, Warren’s Native American status did not come up in connection with her hiring by HLS, and in fact she was recruited and did not apply.

Harney said that Warren does not have any records documenting her Native American heritage, but that is being researched.  Harney said that the campaign has been told that there is no good genealogical documentation with regard to tribes from Oklahoma, unlike tribes from some other areas.  Harney did indicate that the tribal connection is believed to be on Warren’s grandmother’s side of the family.

Harney was unaware of whether Warren ever claimed Native American status on any college law or law school applications, and would not comment on how HLS ended up listing Warren as Native American.

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Comments

Someone should check to see if that qualified Harvard for a minority grant. When I worked for an NPR affiliate, female trust babies accounted for most of the “minority” grants at the station.

    stevewhitemd in reply to Pasadena Phil. | April 30, 2012 at 6:09 pm

    Or if it qualified HER for a grant. For example, the NIH has special grants set aside (appropriately so) for people of minority backgrounds, who traditionally have been under-represented in the biological sciences. Native American is one of those backgrounds.

    Wonder if the good Prof. Warren ever applied for or received a grant meant for minority-background applicants from a federal agency?

      That could only be considered appropriate if you assess the value of a human being by something other than their individual dignity.

      Milhouse in reply to stevewhitemd. | May 1, 2012 at 1:02 am

      What’s appropriate about it? Who says that “people of minority backgrounds” have been “under-represented” in the biological sciences? What is the appropriate representation, so that the existing one can be measured against it to see whether it’s over- under- or “just right”? How is that appropriate level determined? Why is one number better than another? And finally, even if one could determine how many such people “should” have been in the biological sciences “traditionally”, what has that got to do with any individual now? Suppose someone were the first Native American ever to go into a particular field; why would it be appropriate to subsidise him or her rather than someone else? How would the absence of any other people of similar background in that field affect this person’s talents, or make them particularly suitable for it?

    I can remember in college getting those cards that came in from HEW (Health, Education and Welfare) where we had to declare that our college in fact had a diverse student body before the word diverse was PC. We would put down what we thought they wanted to heard. Of course, we didn’t use our “minority” status to keep those federal dollars paying our bills.

Joan Of Argghh | April 30, 2012 at 5:15 pm

It’s pretty straightforward, and kinda hard to misinterpret.
The Census guidelines follow the OMB guidelines.

Of course, I always checked “other” and specified, “Human.”

Native Americans tribes have enrollment or membership requirements, even in Oklahoma, although they vary from tribe to tribe. There are dozens of Oklahoma tribes so Warren may need several aides to work on this.

“But, but,” sputtered Warren, “I’m a liberal. You’re not supposa ask me any difficult or embarrassing questions. You can’t, you just can’t. We get free passes.”

When all of that proved unavailing, Warren pulled the ultimate,

“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”

Busted. Totally busted!

You watch. This is her Macaca Moment, straight up.

Kowabunga, Elizabeth. Gonna cost you mucho wampum.

    stevewhitemd in reply to [email protected]. | April 30, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    It would be her ‘macaca’ moment if she were dogged by the Washington Post. But you’re right, it’s going to define her henceforth in the campaign.

NC Mountain Girl | April 30, 2012 at 5:42 pm

Do I have this timeline right? She self reports minority status to AALS, then gets recruited by the every so politically correct Harvard. Once she’s on the Harvard faculty she stops self reporting minority status. Why? Because she didn’t want anyone to think she was hired by Harvard for anything other than her brilliant intellect?

Do any democrats speak the truth? Ever?

I’m enjoying this little tactical victory.

Of course, it could boomerang if conservatives attack Warren using offensive racial stereotypes.

But we know we’re not on a level playing field. We know the MSM seizes any pretext to paint us as bigots. We know the Left manufactures such pretexts. We won’t shoot off our mouths and play into their hands.

No worries, right?

Hmmmm, I identified myself as a Chiricahua Apache when I was 8. Wonder if that’s going to show up on any of my employment records!

stevewhitemd | April 30, 2012 at 6:06 pm

A joke that’s been going around today about Prof. Warren and her Indian ancestry:

“Funny, she doesn’t look Siouxish…”

I believe a DNA test can tell her ethnic bloodlines but if she took the test you would never hear the results unless they confirmed Indian ancestory.

    Frank Scarn in reply to arnonerik. | April 30, 2012 at 7:25 pm

    We’re “told” repeatedly how brilliant BHO is, yet no proof is ever forthcoming. Set aside his record of failure these last 3 years. Lets see the evidence of his smarts. College grades, rank in class, SATs, LSATs, college/law school writings.

    These things would have come out long ago if they were favorable. Warren’s DNA proof only will come out if there’s good news for Granny Warren. We know, and she knows, and she knows that we know, that all of this is pure, out and out B.S.

MaggotAtBroadAndWall | April 30, 2012 at 6:59 pm

I saw a show on PBS recently in which Harvard’s Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (of “beer summit” fame) tracked the geneology of both Robert Downey, Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal back several centuries. With Gyllenhaal it went all the way back to around the 12th century or something insane like that because she has a link to Swedish royalty (royals have kept extensive records of births, deaths, marriages, etc.).

One thing I remember from the show is that DNA was used to confirm that Downey decends 100% from Europeans – mostly eastern Europeans. They were able to say with virtual certainty that he has no African American or Native American ancestry.

Why couldn’t they secretly perform the same tests with Warren’s DNA? Then if they are unable to confirm that her DNA is consistent with a Native American bloodline, never disclose the results. But if it proves her claim, make the results public and she’s off the hook.

VetHusbandFather | April 30, 2012 at 7:09 pm

Pretty lame on her part. I know for a fact that I’m 1/64th Cherokee but I don’t ever check the box because I also know my family has never maintained any tribal affiliation/membership. You’d think that Law School faculty would know better too…

Is it just me? Does anyone else see an immense shipload of self-doubt here? Someone who doesn’t have the confidence to tackle life as she is? Mega lack of confidence shows up as a “loser” searching for a crutch. Says volumes about her own self-worth issues. Sad.

You see she uses the same roads as minorities and shares the minority status with them.

LukeHandCool | April 30, 2012 at 7:34 pm

Bury Her Chances at Harvard Yard

So she screwed some deserving Native Americans out of several jobs. Why does she hate Amrican Indians?

If she has Native American lineage it came from Pennsylvania, not Oklahoma. Her grandparents didn’t arrive in Oklahoma until the early 1900’s. Her maternal line goes back to at least the late 1700’s in Pennsylvania. Her gg- grandmother was 77 (also Elizabeth) in 1900 and claimed she was born in West virginia and both parents were born in Pennsylvania. Her children, including Warren’s g-grandmother, were born in Pennsylvania. The Delaware Indians were in Pennsylvania until the mid 1800’s and the Cherokees were in the neighborhood in West Virginia and elsewhere. So her story is plausible, but unproven. I am sure there are many, many people with family stories of Native American heritage. The rest of her maternal line is: maternal grandfather was born in Ohio, and maternal g-grandfather was born in West Virginia, but his parents were born in England.

Badger Pundit | April 30, 2012 at 8:26 pm

Hey, check out Warren’s new campaign song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDX97uA9EN4

Also, Howie Carr on the problem of “ethnic imposters” like Warren:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic1HUxMFG50

Leave it to the creator of the intellectual foundation of #Occupy to actualize #Transracial.

LukeHandCool | April 30, 2012 at 8:54 pm

Surely it’s poetic justice that one day hundreds of years later blonde native Americans would be trading shiny but worthless PC baubles to the white man for lucrative tenured faculty positions in return.

1. Note that Harvard and Elizabeth Warren have…flip flopped…on the matter of her ethnicity.

2. Surely a Harvard Law professor should know that it’s not the crime that gets you: it’s the cover-up.

3. From Hot Air:

Elizabeth Warren camp: It’s kind of sexist for Scott Brown to ask if she’s lying about being Native American

They cannot stand being mocked.

In the past tribal chiefs could add non-indians to their roll. As a consequence there are blonde haired blue eyed tribal members. This of course only makes them tribal members, NOT Native American.
Most tribes currently determine eligibility through quantum blood physics based on a verified family tree which only uses the tribe bloodline, Ojibway, Arapaho, Shawnee, etc…not an amalgamation.

The left has not quite gotten to the point where ethnic definition is to be solely the individual’s prerogative, as they have accepted that “gender” definition is to be. Indeed, for leftist extremists, “gender” is a fluid category. Thus, Elizabeth Warren can be a self-proclaimed “native american” one day, but not another day.

We in the Cherokee nation know her as “Bunny Warren of the Progressive Tribe”.

huskers-for-palin | April 30, 2012 at 11:56 pm

The tweets have been hilarious!!!

#ElizabethWarrenIndianNames

huskers-for-palin | May 1, 2012 at 12:07 am

Donkeehantas

Thank goodness she is not claiming to be descended from a long line of Lubavitcher Rabbis.

Bitterlyclinging | May 1, 2012 at 7:44 am

It simply won’t make a bit of difference to the voters of Massacussetts. They will vote like their cousins to the south in Connecticut who, when their Democratic Senatorial candidate in 2010 touted himself as being “In Country” during the Vietnam War, when in actuality, the closest he had gotten was a “Toys For Tots” collection depot in Washington DC, ignored that little white lie and voted him into office anyway.
Now, if either Senator Blumenthal and candidate Warren declared themselves against anal fornication, it would be an entirely different matter. The election would definitely be up for grabs

[…] Elizabeth “Dances With Socialists” Warren is being mocked by Allahpundit, Instapundit, William Jacobson, Moe Lane, Weasel Zippers, Tom Maguire, Mark Steyn, Ace of Spades and Ace of Spades — […]

If the thin link to a great great great grandmother makes one a “Native American”, then probably the majority of Americans can claim “minority” status of some kind or another.

Dishonest bullsh scamming an offensive system. It’s long past time to get rid of these entitlement schemes.

    janitor in reply to janitor. | May 1, 2012 at 10:03 am

    And also long past time already to see what interesting foreign status Obama claimed on his college applications.

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