One of those You'll Only See It On "MHP" segments aired last weekend, and in light of a recent event, it makes for a particularly salient Good Look this week. That event is the death this week in Canada of one of North America's most notorious academic racists, Jean Phillippe Rushton.
Aside from funding projects around the world for "scientists" like himself, Rushton was notable for his genetic similarity theory -- which posited, essentially, that you're likely to be kinder and more altruistic towards people who more similar genetically to you -- and another whopper about the correlation between genital size and intelligence (we can see where that's going).
More on that from the Southern Poverty Law Center, via Salon:
Rushton’s infamous theory about race and intelligence can be summed up in two words: size matters.
He postulated that brain and genital size are inversely related, implying that whites are more intelligent than blacks and that Asians are the smartest of all.
It was clear that Rushton, for science or his own motivations, believed race to be a genetic, physical construct. But perhaps we should thank bozos like Rushton for strengthening another theory: that race is a social construct.
That's the discussion Melissa opened up last week, spurred on by the Native American identification which Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has claimed from family anecdotes, and which her opponent -- incumbent GOP Sen. Scott Brown -- has tried to make into a thing. Much like "fetch" in "Mean Girls," he's failing; and his staff isn't helping, whooping mock Native war chants and doing the asinine "tomahawk chop" gesture.
See below the incredibly compelling conversation which resulted from all that foolishness. The second part of the three-segment discussion is an interview with National Museum of the American Indian director Kevin Gover, of the Pawnee tribe. You can find the first segment above the jump; the rest, below. Join us today at 10am ET for more news analysis you won't see anywhere else, only on msnbc.
Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown and his campaign have been criticized for attacking his opponent Elizabeth Warren and her claims that she is of Native American descent. Melissa Harris-Perry and her guests talk about controversy and what it means for the national dialogue on race.
Melissa Harris-Perry responds to a video depicting staffers of Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown making offensive actions against Native Americans. Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian joins to react.
Melissa Harris-Perry and her guests deconstruct the attacks Sen. Scott Brown lobbed against his opponent Elizabeth Warren for her heritage and what they mean for affirmative action.
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What a mess! The white skins create an unscientific myth about race so that there can be haves and have nots. Then the dark skins embrace the lie to gain social recognition of their plight. And now we try to have an intelligent discourse about this while building on this false premise? We are indeed one race at the level of the genome. What ever happened to the principal of color blind?
Wow! Talk about twisting and distorting the truth about racism in Mass., this takes the cake. You hold up Elizabeth "Cherokee Princess" Warren as some sort of hero, when the very words of your own guest contradict it. Your ears are hearing only what you want to hear.
Kevin Gover (Pawnee) was very clearly and explicitly displeased about Princess Warren's claims to Native heritage. It just doesn't wash with him. Why are you covering up this very large Fact? While her racism was not as flagrant as Browns, until the second debate, she is still a racist. Her abusive use of false Native heritage is highly offensive in Indian Country, where Princess Warren is just another Plastic White Wannabe Indian. Gover was showing great restraint in staying with a statement of concern, instead of coming out and exposing her falsehoods: She provides no documentation for her claim, which she must under the law. Since Native identity is first and foremost a legal and cultural identity, this failure on her part is flagrantly racist.
For many of us in Indian Country, both candidates are awful when it comes to the race issue. A pox on both their houses.
Addressing the title and theme of this thread, when it comes to Native America, "race" is a legal contract.
Ref.: US Constitution, Article 1 Section 8; Supreme Court, Worcester v. Georgia.
And I forgot: Hundreds and hundreds of Treaties written by the Federal government, which forced the Native people to sign them. And then went on to violate every one.
USA OUT OF NORTH AMERICA
Trying to get a grasp of this nonsense...I have some Cherokee blood...Not much, but I defy anyone to show that I don't...What if she has some herself? If her folks told her as she grew up...that is pretty much how I gained the knowledge, as well...Except for the Tomahawk chop idiocy...this has all the appearance of being a NON issue...
Saying you have some Cherokee ancestry is fine. Your family stories may or may not be accurate--that's the problem. Until you can document them, you cannot legitimately claim to be Cherokee. But you don't make that claim. So, telling your stories is fine.
Princess Warren claims Native identity. That's a whole different issue--one of Racism. To claim tribal identity requires documentation, evidence. That's the law. She has provided none--nothing at all. Since she's a law professor, she knows that she must. Therefore, the only conclusion we can draw is that she is a liar, fraudster, and racist.
Any claim to being tribal requires evidence, proof. The burden of proof is on she who asserts. She asserts with no proof. Logic 101 demands her claim be rejected for lack of one iota of proof. In Indian Country, people who make such unfounded assertions are considered Racists. If you don't think calling out Racists is important, you need to adjust your moral compass.