# Does Trump calling Warren Pocahontas, make it OK to call him Adolph Drumpf? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 29, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008 "2016-05-29T16:44:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Pylesos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@Pylesos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pylesos)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/101 "2016-05-31T08:26:48Z")
If we go back for a second to the question at hand… Why is it bad to mock people for claiming to be something they are not? Specifically, Elizabeth Warren is in no way, shape or form a Native American. Calling her Pocohontas is a gentle way of making fun of her silly claims and will perhaps ( although the chances are small ) nudge the Senator to accept her whiteness and be a bit more honest in the future. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/102 "2016-05-31T08:39:36Z")
> [@Pylesos](#): > > If we go back for a second to the question at hand… Why is it bad to mock people for claiming to be something they are not? > Specifically, Elizabeth Warren is in no way, shape or form a Native American. Calling her Pocohontas is a gentle way of making fun of her silly claims and will perhaps ( although the chances are small ) nudge the Senator to accept her whiteness and be a bit more honest in the future. Do not engage the moron folks. Recent arrival and might I suggest a not-too-distant departure from the SDMB shores. Enter into discourse at own peril. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/103 "2016-05-31T14:08:31Z")
> [@Pylesos](#): > > If we go back for a second to the question at hand… Why is it bad to mock people for claiming to be something they are not? > Specifically, Elizabeth Warren is in no way, shape or form a Native American. Calling her Pocohontas is a gentle way of making fun of her silly claims and will perhaps ( although the chances are small ) nudge the Senator to accept her whiteness and be a bit more honest in the future. Keep fucking that chicken, troll. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/104 "2016-05-31T15:03:54Z")
IIRC, the original placement of the goal posts were on the line about how Ms Warren was alleged to have leveraged her heritage to advance her position at Harvard. Unless I am very much mistaken, that has been crushed beneath the weight of fact. Absent that spurious allegation, what difference does it make what her personal fantasies about her lineage may be? Would anyone give a rat’s if she described herself as having Bulgarian roots? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/105 "2016-05-31T15:10:13Z")
In Massachusetts, we prefer “Lieawatha”. ---
**Author:** ![Pylesos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@Pylesos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pylesos)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/106 "2016-05-31T15:16:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > what difference does it make what her personal fantasies about her lineage may be Exactly: it’s the same difference when Mr. Trump gently makes fun of Ms. Warren silly fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/107 "2016-05-31T15:25:29Z")
Well, yes, gentility and cordial discourse is central to Mr Trump’s public persona. And I am the Queen of Romania. ---
**Author:** ![Pylesos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@Pylesos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pylesos)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/108 "2016-05-31T15:40:18Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, yes, gentility and cordial discourse is central to Mr Trump’s public persona. And I am the Queen of Romania. Be that as it may in general, Mr. Trump has been very gentle with Senator Warren. I, for example,be tempted to use stronger language and call her “delusional old lying c\*\*t”. (Yes, uncivil, but in essense correct) Calling her Pocahontas is gentle, funny, and, if it leads our society to calling bs on silly claims of people like Dolezal, Jenner and Warren, it’ll be better for all of us. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/109 "2016-05-31T15:43:14Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Do not engage the moron folks. Recent arrival and might I suggest a not-too-distant departure from the SDMB shores. Enter into discourse at own peril. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/110 "2016-05-31T16:03:06Z")
Banned name! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/111 "2016-05-31T16:05:59Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > In Massachusetts, we prefer “Lieawatha”. That’s ridiculous. Hiawatha was a man! ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/112 "2016-05-31T16:11:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s ridiculous. Hiawatha was a man! And as the unimpeachable Marco Rubio has asserted, Trump is no long fellow… (In before **elucidator**.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/113 "2016-05-31T16:18:31Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > And as the unimpeachable Marco Rubio has asserted, Trump is no long fellow… > (In before **elucidator**.) Gotta “hand” it to you on that one! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/114 "2016-05-31T17:34:14Z")
I would not, nor have I ever lowered myself to such as these! OK, maybe that \*one \*time! But I was on drugs! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/115 "2016-05-31T18:07:33Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Why not? The entire story about her saving John Smith’s life was fiction right from the get-go. I was insulting his supporters, who clearly never think to fact check anything. The legend stops before she marries someone else, gets taken to England, and dies. Kind of a bummer. These are the same people who probably think Washington actually chopped down the cherry tree. Anyhow my point was that though Aunt Jemima is fictional and Pocohantas real, for all practical purposes they are equally fictional and equally stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/116 "2016-05-31T18:15:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, yes, gentility and cordial discourse is central to Mr Trump’s public persona. And I am the Queen of Romania. _Imi pare bine_, Your Majesty! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/117 "2016-05-31T18:57:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I was insulting his supporters, who clearly never think to fact check anything. The legend stops before she marries someone else, gets taken to England, and dies. Kind of a bummer. > > These are the same people who probably think Washington actually chopped down the cherry tree. > Anyhow my point was that though Aunt Jemima is fictional and Pocohantas real, for all practical purposes they are equally fictional and equally stereotypes. Indeed, but let’s be fair here-- those beliefs about Pocahontas and Washington extend to much of the nation, not just Trump supporters. Blame the schools if you must, because that’s what we were taught (at least I was, back int he 60s; maybe things are better these days). ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/118 "2016-05-31T19:09:25Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > This [Atlantic article](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/is-elizabeth-warren-native-american-or-what/257415/) from 2012 seems to have a good summary on the controversy. > > **Peremensoe** has mentioned some of the main points. Here’s a summary. > > -Elizabeth Warren believed she had some Cherokee ancestry based on family legend. She might be 1/32 Cherokee. She’s from Oklahoma, so might plausibly have some Cherokee ancestry. However, this has not been confirmed by a link to any named ancestor who was clearly identified as Cherokee. Whatever the case, she would not be eligible to be a member of any Cherokee tribe. > > -On the other hand, there is no evidence that she ever took any advantage of supposed minority status to gain a job or other preference. She sometimes indicated that she had Native American ancestry, and allowed Harvard to mention it as well, but as far as she knew that was correct. Just a personal observation on the ‘family legend of NA ancestry’ situation. Grandmother’s family came from traditional Cherokee areas of Georgia and ended up in the heart of Choctaw/Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory (later Oklahoma). Grannie and sisters were all born there and legend had it that there was Cherokee ancestry from Georgia. Some of that probably came from confusion about the purpose of the Georgia Cherokee Land Lottery that relatives participated in. It wasn’t Cherokees getting land - it was whites getting the newly ‘vacated’ lands after the eviction. Pretty easy to see that family stories can become ‘truth’ after a few generations. Looking at late 1800’s pictures of my relatives you might well think they had some NA roots. Just hard-bitten poor people living in a hard-scrabble land. I’m giving Warren the same pass I got - you’d like to believe what the family stories say. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/119 "2016-05-31T20:03:00Z")
If this trivial non-issue is genuinely the worst thing you can say about Elizabeth Warren, you should just declare her President right now. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008/120 "2016-05-31T23:27:43Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Indeed, but let’s be fair here-- those beliefs about Pocahontas and Washington extend to much of the nation, not just Trump supporters. Blame the schools if you must, because that’s what we were taught (at least I was, back int he 60s; maybe things are better these days). Yeah, I don’t think my kids got this. I did, just like you. But Trump using that word appealed to the fiction. I managed to avoid the stupid Disney movie, where did it end? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-trump-calling-warren-pocahontas-make-it-ok-to-call-him-adolph-drumpf/756008.md?page=7)