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The question for Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is not whether she truly is part Native American. A genealogist apparently has confirmed that the Massachusetts Democrat is a 32nd Cherokee, although no document yet has been produced proving the connection.
That would not be an uncommon finding for many who were, as Warren was, born and raised in Oklahoma. The state was, after all, where the Cherokee people were relocated after being driven from their true homeland in the Southeast.
The questions Warren needs to legitimately address, however, are whether she ever benefitted in her career from her self-identification as a minority — and whether she believes that others less fortunate than she may have been denied an opportunity because of it.
It's frankly hard to believe that Warren's "box-checking" on law reference application forms wasn't designed to help further her career. Similarly, Harvard Law School benefitted by citing Warren as a minority faculty member at a time its diversity practices were under fire. And Warren's claim that she checked the box claiming Native American heritage in her application for inclusion in the Association of American Law Schools desk book so that she could meet people with similar backgrounds is laughable — especially given Monday's reports she didn't bother to attend Harvard's own Native American Powwow this past weekend, and, as far as organizers could tell, never has in the past.
If Warren wants to resolve this controversy and maintain credibility, she should authorize the law schools she has attended and taught at to release her applications and any other relevant admissions or hiring documents.
And if she did benefit from her minority "box-checking," consider this: How many Native American or other minority candidates were left behind because of her claims?
