Racial misrepresentation
Racial or ethnic misrepresentation occurs when someone deliberately misrepresents their racial or ethnic background. It may occur for a variety of reasons, such as someone attempting to benefit from affirmative action programs for which they are not eligible.[1][2][3][4]
Critical race theory examines how people of European descent are, in recent history, more likely to pretend to be people of color.[clarification needed] However, historically, many people of color passed as white for survival and safety. It is possible for a person of any race or ethnicity to misrepresent themselves or be misrepresented.[5][6]
Often racial misrepresentation occurs when people of one race or ethnicity, unfamiliar with real people of another culture, replicate the
Notable cases
- H. G. Carrillo, African-American who falsely presented as Cuban.[9][10]
- Asa Earl Carter, white American who falsely presented as Cherokee.[11]
- Ward Churchill, white American who falsely claimed to be of mixed Muscogee, Creek, and Cherokee descent.[4]
- "Iron Eyes" Cody, Sicilian-American who falsely claimed to be a member of numerous Native American tribes.[12][13]
- Misha Defonseca (Monique de Wael), Belgian gentile who falsely presented as a Jewish Holocaust survivor.[14]
- Rachel Dolezal, white American who falsely presented as Black.[15][16][17]
- Jimmie Durham, white American who falsely claimed to be Cherokee.[18][19]
- Anita Florence Hemmings, mixed race woman of African and European descent who passed as white.[20]
- Jamake Highwater, white American of Eastern European descent who falsely presented as Cherokee.[21][22][23]
- Marie Sophie Hingst, German gentile who falsely presented as descended from Jewish Holocaust survivors.[24]
- Margaret B. Jones (Margaret Seltzer), white American who falsely claimed to be half-Native American.[25]
- Jessica Krug, white American who falsely presented as half-Algerian, half-German, and Afro-Puerto Rican on different occasions.[26][10]
- Nasdijj (Timothy Patrick Barrus), white American of European descent who falsely claimed to be Navajo.[25]
- Merle Oberon, half-Burgher, half-Welsh woman who falsely claimed to be a fully white woman of Australian descent.[27]
- Grey Owl, white Englishman who falsely presented as a mixed-race man of Scottish and Apache descent.[28][29][30]
- Korla Pandit, African-American who falsely presented as Franco-Indian.[31][32]
- Buffy Sainte-Marie, white American who falsely claimed to be indigenous Canadian.[33]
- Sacheen Littlefeather, American of European and Mexican descent who falsely claimed to be Pascua Yaqui.[34]
- Andrea Smith, white American who falsely claimed to be Cherokee.[35][36][37][38][39]
- Vianne Timmons, white Canadian who falsely claimed to be of Mi'kmaq descent.[40]
- Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, white Canadian who falsely claimed to be of Cree descent.[41]
- Elizabeth Warren, white American who falsely claimed to be Cherokee.[42][43][44][45][46]
See also
- Cultural appropriation
- Passing (race)
- Pretendian
- Transracial (identity)
- Stereotypes of Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States
References
- ^ Yang, Tseming (2006). "Choice and Fraud in Racial Identification: The Dilemma of Policing Race in Affirmative Action, the Census, and a Color-Blind Society". Mich. J. Race & L. 11: 367.
- ^ Brazil, Cleuci de Oliveira in Pelotas (8 June 2017). "'Race fraud': how a college quota scandal exposed Brazil's historic racial tensions". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-135-99731-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59460-599-4.
- S2CID 146739065.
- S2CID 29398572.
- S2CID 230820421.
- S2CID 151677686.
- ^ Dillon, Nancy (25 May 2020). "Coronavirus death of 'Cuban-American' novelist H.G. Carrillo reveals surprising truth to husband, fans". nydailynews.com.
- ^ a b Jackson, Lauren (September 12, 2020). "The Layered Deceptions of Jessica Krug, the Black-Studies Professor Who Hid That She Is White". The New Yorker.
- ^ Carter, Dan T. (October 4, 1991). "The Transformation of a Klansman". The New York Times.
- ^ Waldman, Amy (January 5, 1999). "Iron Eyes Cody, 94, an Actor And Tearful Anti-Littering Icon". The New York Times.
- The New Orleans Times-Picayune.
- ^ Eskin, Blake (2008-08-18). "The Girl Who Cried Wolf: A Holocaust Fairy Tale". Boston Magazine. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
- ^ Herbst, Diane (June 20, 2015). "How Rachel Dolezal's Cover as a Black Woman Was Blown". PEOPLE.com.
- ^ Pérez-Peña, Richard (June 12, 2015). "Black or White? Woman's Story Stirs Up a Furor". The New York Times.
- ^ Mimms, Sarah (July 6, 2015). "What Rachel Dolezal Left Behind". The Atlantic.
- ^ Meredith, America (2017-08-15). "Issues & Commentary: Ethnic Fraud and Art". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ^ Regan, Sheila. “Jimmie Durham Retrospective Reignites Debate Over His Claim of Native Ancestry,” Hyperallergic, June 28, 2017, hyperallergic.com.
- ^ Mancini, Olivia (Winter 2001). "Passing as White: Anita Hemmings 1897". Vassar, the Alumnae/i Quarterly.
- ISBN 978-0-19-512063-9.
- ISBN 978-0-395-66921-1
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3352-2.
- ^ Doerry, Martin (6 June 2019). "The Historian Who Invented 22 Holocaust Victims". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ a b Treuer, David (March 7, 2008). "Why do writers pretend to be Indians?". Slate Magazine.
- ^ Krug, Jessica A. (September 3, 2020). "The Truth, and the Anti-Black Violence of My Lies". Medium.com.
- ^ Liebman, Lisa (July 28, 2017). "The Fascinating Old Hollywood Story That Inspired The Last Tycoon's Best Plotline". Vanity Fair.
- ^ Irwin, Nigel (January 12, 2017). "Joseph Boyden's Apology and the Strange History of 'Pretendians' – Boyden is hardly the first person to be alleged to have faked Indigenous roots for material or spiritual gain". Vice Media. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
- ^ Murray, John (Apr 20, 2018). "APTN Investigates: Cowboys and Pretendians". Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
Canada's most famous pretendian is a man who called himself Grey Owl.
- ^ Smith, Donald B. (1990). From the Land of Shadows: the Making of Grey Owl. Saskatoon: Western Prairie Books.
- ^ Smith, RJ (June 21, 2001). "The Many Faces of Korla Pandit". Los Angeles Magazine. p. 73 – via Google Books.
- ^ Bradner, Liesl (September 12, 2015). "How a Black Man From Missouri Transformed Himself Into the Indian Liberace". The New Republic.
- ^ Leo, Geoff; Woloshyn, Roxanna; Guerriero, Linda. ""Who is the real Buffy Sainte-Marie?"". CBC News. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (October 22, 2022). "Sacheen Littlefeather Lied About Native American Ancestry, Sisters Claim". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
- ^ Viren, Sarah (25 May 2021). "The Native Scholar Who Wasn't". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
- ^ Allen, Samantha (July 11, 2015). "Tribes Blast 'Wannabe' Native American Professor". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- Indian Country Today Media Network. Archived from the originalon August 5, 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- Indian Country Today Media Network. July 7, 2015. Archived from the originalon August 10, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ "Indigenous identity is complex". www.gazette.mun.ca. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
- ^ "Indigenous professionals say UBC is mishandling Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond ancestry fallout". CBC News. 2022-10-26. Archived from the original on 2023-01-05.
- ^ Choi, Matthew (February 6, 2019). "Warren suggests 'American Indian' might appear on other documents". Politico. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- ^ Hoskin Jr., Chuck (Oct 15, 2018). "Cherokee Nation responds to Senator Warren's DNA test". Cherokee Nation. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ Olmstead, Molly (February 6, 2019). "Report: Elizabeth Warren Identified as American Indian in Texas Bar Registration". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ Linskey, Annie (February 5, 2019). "Elizabeth Warren apologizes for calling herself Native American". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- Salon. Archivedfrom the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.