Tuesday, July 07, 2015

Warren and Dolezal and Smith,

oh my!
Andrea Smith, a professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California at Riverside, has started to draw attention in the wake of the Dolezal incident from those who say she has for years falsely claimed to have Cherokee blood. The case is arguably much more significant, though, because while Dolezal was a relatively undistinguished academic at Eastern Washington University, Smith is recognized as a significant scholar in her field. She routinely appears as a featured scholar at major events and has written books that were well-received by her colleagues (though others may question the broader worth of works like Conquest: Sexual Violence And American Indian Genocide).
One more radical fake minority.  And, appropriately for Californicated, the university doesn't care:
...Also, despite the claims against her, UC-Riverside says it isn’t bothered.

“Professor Smith is a teacher and research of high merit who, on that basis, earned a tenured faculty position at UC Riverside,” the school said in a statement given to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “The University of California is precluded by law from considering an individual’s ethnicity in any hiring or advancement decisions.”
Snork... does anybody believe they didn't 'consider ethnicity'?  And don't?  And wouldn't 'Lied her ass off to get and keep her position' count as a rather drastic violation of ethics?

But, again, Californicated.  And the modern university system.  And "If you're a female- ESPECIALLY one who claims minority/of colour status- you can get away with damn near anything."


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