Wednesday, February 23, 2005

The big non-surprise: Churchill not American Indian

Little Green Footballs is reporting (via the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HT: My View of the World) that Ward Churchill admitted in Hawaii last night that he is not an American Indian:
Churchill did address the issue of his ethnicity, admitting that he is not Native American.

"Is he an Indian? Do we really care?" he said, quoting those he called his "white Republican" critics.

"Let's cut to the chase; I am not," he said.

His pedigree is "not important," Churchill said: "The issue is the substance of what is said."

Frankly, I'm surprised he admitted it. I'd actually like to see the fuller context of that statement. The only reason I can imagine he'd admit to it is if UC had told him that lying about his ethnicity would not be held against him.

And as for his assertion that pedigree is not important, the substance is, the initial trouble comes from the fact that he's lied about the pedigree all these years. Whether anyone likes it or not, a scholar on American Indian issues who is an American Indian has a built in credibility and authority. Non-American Indians have to work a little harder to earn that authority because they did not grow up experiencing life the way the American Indian did. Churchill lied and traded on that false credibility. All of his work has to be called into question. While pedigree is not important per se, it becomes so once you've lied about it, because it calls into question any "substance" that is said.

UPDATE
Instapundit is covering the potential misquote of Churchill.

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