Activists protest the Washington NFL team's racist mascot in January 2016. Photo by Jacqueline Keeler / Twitter
Writer and activist Jacqueline Keeler (Navajo / Yankton Sioux) uncovers flaws with a Washington Post poll that asked "ordinary" Native Americans for their views about the local NFL team's racist mascot:
First and foremost, the Post states clearly that they did not verify the actual Native American identity or tribal enrollment of its respondents. Unlike most “minorities,” non-Native Americans have often declared themselves Native American with little or no factual evidence or cultural connection whatsoever. Furthermore, 56 percent of those asked said they were not part of any tribal nation or could not name what tribe their ancestors claimed. Imagine asking 500 white Americans for an opinion about Europe and not caring that more than half had no connection to their ancestors’ place of origin. . . . Leaving aside the issues of “self-identification,” there is also a problem with demographics. More than half, 274, were over the age of 50. Native Americans have a median age of 26—nearly 10 years younger than the general American population. The Post claims that they “weighted” the results to make sure that those over 50 were given just 39 percent of the voice. But even with “weighting,” by speaking primarily to people over 50—and then including their quotes in the piece as representative of the survey—the Post presented an inaccurate portrait of who we are as a people. Male respondents also outnumbered female ones, which was quite a feat as Native American men have the highest mortality rates in the country. I remember when my dad was in his 50s and he went back to his reservation in South Dakota and was shocked to realize he was the only Yankton Dakota man left from his high-school class. Furthermore, only 76, or 15 percent, of respondents were under the age of 29—and none of the respondents were under 18.Get the Story:
Jacqueline Keeler On the Shameful and Skewed ‘Redskins’ Poll (The Nation 5/25)
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