A Prof, Who Said She Had Cherokee Ancestry, will Resign from UC Riverside.

At some point in history, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of California Riverside, Andrea Smith, came to think that she was Native American? Credibility is a vital virtue for teachers, experts and mentors. When you choose to claim a racial guise, you diminish that.

According to CNN, “an ethnic studies professor, who was accused of claiming to be Native American has agreed to part ways next year with the University of California Riverside following a complaint filed by colleagues, documents show. Thirteen professors had alleged that “Smith has made fraudulent claims to Native American identity in violation of the Faculty Code of Conduct provisions concerning academic integrity.” 

According to reporting from “The Guardian”: “Andrea Smith, once a heralded scholar of Native American studies, faced criticism since at least 2008 for claiming she was Cherokee but had remained employed at the southern California university”.

This stirred a memory from my perspective as a racially vague Black man: as a teenager, my mom, who was white, told me a story about my dad, a Black man, being part Choctaw. there was even an anecdote she told to a bigoted maternity ward nurse. I had no reason to question this truth. Why would she lie to more?

A reality is that the stories we tell ourselves (and the world) about ourselves create our psychological realities. To quote a circa 1990s drama film, “how do you know who your daddy is” Your momma told you”. This describes one way in which children learn. It suggests also how children in-turn begin to define themselves at home. 

In some worlds, or minds we forget that “race” is subjective. And people forget or ignore that it has no basis in biological science. For example, not all Blacks some of whom being biracial look Black. Native Americans don’t all have “red skin”. “Indians” carry no typical features.

I was curious about the racial mixture behind my racially fluid or vague look 25-years-later. When I asked him, my eldest brother told me that dad had no Choctaw in him. I had wondered because dad wore wavy hair, instead of kinky. And, my mom being white, mine was wavy too. My brother was a nationally-known scholar of Black Studies. He knew his facts. He corrected me.

But, in adulthood, curiosity, and accountability are virtues. They are pillars of one’s reputation. Being incorrigibly curious, and having a habit for critical thinking, I don’t understand how professor Smith could rise among scholars without having been curious about, researched and confirmed the facts of her “racial” heritage.

Regarding the professor’s status, per CNN, “though the agreement” to remain on staff until resigning “was finalized in January, Smith’s employment with the university will run through August 2024, at which time her resignation will take effect”. Per CNN “After her resignation date, Smith will be eligible to retire as emerita professor and receive UC benefits, according to the agreement.”

When people would could know better about, our web- and troll-centric world, easily and carelessly snuff out their reputations, Prof. Smith’s tale is another morose one. Identity rhetoric especially from among those people who feel aggrieved are ever-present among our “information content” aka “the media”.