Since when did "Pocahontas" become a racist slur?

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Pocahontas is a native American historical figure and a Disney movie character.

First of all Native Americans are not a race!!

What Trump did in calling Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" was childish and a stupid analogy, not racist or even a slur against Native Americans. In that speech he praised those Native Americans for being war heroes and reminded everyone that they were here first an important point I do not recall ever hearing a political figure say. Then in typical Trump fashion he botched it trying to compare Warren's being in Congress "too long" with Native Americans being here first. So he used her in a pejorative way why should that make using her name a slur against Native Americans? If in front a Jewish audience he used "Moses" as an out of date analogy does that mean "Moses" becomes a antisemitic slur? Unfortunately in 2017 America the answer would be yes.

Remember folks don't call anybody the "P-Word" or prepare to face the consequences. WP get up to date and star out "Pocahontas"(sarcasm).

It's not a slur. She was a hero to many, though some (Native Americans) thought she "sold out."

It's an indication that he adheres to stereotypical notions, though.

This is not evidence that Trump is a racist.

She was a traitor to her people and was banished by them.
Trump was just stupid to even bring it up..like they really cared about his spat with Warren.
It was their day to be honored and he should have just stuck with that and left his political agenda out of it.

OH!! !

Well excuse me!

Trump was not being a racist.

He was being an equal opportunity a**hole!

And...

An equal opportunity idiot!

Well, THANK YOU mr. OP, for straightening THAT our for us all! As if that even makes a difference!

He's using it to make fun of a woman who shamelessly lied about being a Native American to get into a prestigious school. Nothing racist about it. But you have to remember that these claims are coming from the same people who claimed he was racist because he was against illegal immigration.

And the whole thing is a smoke screen so the rich can get richer.

You know my politics.
So it might amaze you when I say that sometimes,
yes, "Pocahontas" can be a racist slur.
It depends on how it's used.

I'm part Native American.
In the past, I've dressed in my fully authentic Iroquois garb
and volunteered as a historical interpreter for the Cleveland Metroparks.
The vast majority of people have always treated me respectfully when I've done so.
However, there was this one man who called me "Pocahontas" ...
he had a nasty smile on his face and a disrespectful tone of voice,
and there was no reason for it.
He could have asked me my name and I would have told him
one of my Native American names,
either in the English language, French, or Seneca Iroquois dialect.
(And yes, I'm also part British and part French Canadian, thank you very much.)

That said, to me it's not racist that President Trump called Sen. Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" because it's in a different context. Elizabeth Warren has apparently lied about her heritage to advance her career. The two are political enemies, she's a public figure who tried cultural appropriation and had it backfire on her.

As for name-calling in general,
there's certainly no lack of that here on Wrong Planet ...
even in this thread, as a matter of fact.

So no, I'm not saying it was right for President Trump to call Sen. Warren "Pocahontas",
just that in my opinion it wasn't racist.

EDITED: Then again, you could say it was insulting to the Code Talkers.

It's not a slur, but it is offensive, because it portrays Native Americans as a caricature of a movie character, rather than a diverse group of people.

Last edited by TheAP on 28 Nov 2017, 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Okay, I get it. What Trump said was perfectly fine and appropriate. If you're Archie Bunker.

While you're at it, why not call all Mexican people "Jose", or Arabian people "Aladdin"? I pretty much doubt most real Arabian people fly around on a magic carpet with a genie and fight evil sorcerers who transform into giant snakes.

But he never called a Native American "Pocahontas". If he did, that would be racist. He used the name to mock a white woman who lied about being Native American.

Racist/racism are very strong, meaningful words and when you throw them around irresponsibly you devalue them.

Isn't she part Cherokee? I think I read that she was at least 1/32 Cherokee. If so, she was not lying.

What she hasn't done is maintain any tribal affiliation.

For what it's worth, I knew one woman years ago who was the same percentage of Cherokee but who did maintain a tribal affiliation.

Trump is an a**hole but I was using the Pocahontus controversy to make a few points that have nothing to do with Trump or Pocahontas.

The definition of racist has been expanded way beyond the pale and that the slur “racist” is used for too many situations where another more accurate pejorative would be in order. A racist slur should be used to describe a slur against against a specific race not an all purpose description to describe slurs against any group of people like it is today. Bieng an a**hole or bieng childish is not the same thing as being a bigot. The caviar way “racist”, “racial slur” is tossed around both cheapens the negative power of those terms and the bad thing the person accused of being a racist actually did or is.

I also was criticizing the tendancy to make a word a horrible slur because bullies use it in a negative context. That is a problem for us with “Autism” at the moment.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 28 Nov 2017, 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No, she isn't part Cherokee. She lied about being part Cherokee in order to get affirmative action preferences in hiring and advance her career at the expense of actual minorities. Warren, aka Fauxcahontas, aka Lie-a-watha, is a sleazy lying fraud.

Last edited by Darmok on 28 Nov 2017, 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

In order to be 1/32th Cherokee, one of your great-great-great grandparents would have had to be Cherokee.

It's quite possible for many people in the United States to be 1/32th Native American----especially if he/she is African-American; however, many white and Hispanic people could probably make this claim.

I agree that what Warren actually did is worse then Trump’s use of words in reaction to her.

There was some kind of document related to marriage that identified her great-great-grandmother (I think) as being part Cherokee. That was disputed by others because other documents don't list her as being Cherokee. In particular, one had a box to check "color" and it was unchecked.

From what I understand, the old census records generally just had choices for "white", "negro", and "mulatto". Indians checked "white". Also, if you were identified as an Indian, you had far less rights than if you were identified as white so many Indians reportedly would not identify themselves as Indians in documents.