Brian Wuoti of Vermont is a Baptist pastor and a high school math teacher. His wife of 14 years, Kaitlyn Wuoti, leads a bi-weekly women's Bible study and homeschools their five children. They first became foster parents in 2014, adopting a pair of brothers who have become an "integral" part of their family.
Michael Gantt is the lead pastor of another church, and Rebecca Gantt, his wife of 25 years, raises their seven children. They became foster parents in 2016. Extra to their four biological children, they have adopted three children from the Green Mountain State's foster care system.
Both families believe that God created everyone in his image; that sex is binary and fixed by God at conception; and that all people deserve respect and love.
These two families unfortunately share something more in common beside their establishment of loving homes, dedication to protecting the vulnerable, sterling records, and Christian faith.
According to their lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont, the Vermont Department for Children and Families has barred them from continuing to foster children on account of their religious beliefs about sexuality.
'Vermont would prefer children have no home than to place them with families of faith with these views.'
"Although the Wuotis and Gantts have adopted five children between them, the Department has determined they are unfit to foster or adopt any child solely due to their religiously inspired and widely held belief that girls cannot become boys or vice versa," said the lawsuit.
"And Vermont applies this policy categorically — whether applicants want to adopt their grandchild, provide respite care for an infant for just a few hours, or foster a child who shares all of their religious views," continued the suit. "Vermont would prefer children have no home than to place them with families of faith with these views."
The Wuotis discovered that their mainstream Christian beliefs rendered them ineligible to give orphans and other vulnerable minors a supportive home in 2022, when the state was reviewing their application to renew their foster care license.
Despite a case worker suggesting that she "probably could not hand pick a more wonderful foster family," and the Wuotis' licensor apparently indicating there was "no doubt" they could welcome another child into their home, everything changed when they indicated they were Christians and would not embrace the ideological fads of the day. Somehow, they instantly ceased to be wonderful. An absence of doubt in their ability to foster another child became an absolute certainty in their inability.
They received a "Notice of Decision" from the VDCF recommending the revocation of their license.
Last year — a year where the state had 985 children in out-of-home protective custody, 467 in conditional custody, and 150 family support cases — the Gantts heard the call of a child in need.
The VDCF apparently asked the couple whether they could take an emergency placement — a baby about to be born to a homeless junkie. Prior to taking another child into their home, the couple received an email "explaining that families must accept the State's orthodoxy about gender fluidity 'even if the foster parents hold divergent personal opinions or beliefs,'" said the lawsuit.
The Gantts met with a caseworker about fostering the baby and made clear they would "love and accept any child" but that they would not compromise on their Christian beliefs. Michael Gantt also made clear to a department employee he would not bend the knee to gender ideology — no Pride parades, no incorrect pronouns.
The couple received a "Notice of Decision" concerning their license revocation in February.
'The division is committed to making ongoing efforts to recruit, train, support and retain foster families who are LGBTQ affirming and supporting.'
While the lawsuit references various indicators that the VDCF is ideologically captive and hostile to traditional views, a number of which are still maintained by the majority of Americans, it highlighted the department's LGBT activist orientation, manifest in Policy 76.
The policy states, "When assessing safety and risk in an environment where an LGBTQ child or youth resides, family services workers will determine whether a parent, caregiver, or other family member's attitude and behavior about the child or youth's sexual or gender identity impact the safety and well-being of the child."
"The division is committed to making ongoing efforts to recruit, train, support and retain foster families who are LGBTQ affirming and supporting," the policy says in a section on placement considerations.
The lawsuit indicated that the VDCF has reinterpreted its existing requirements of foster parents in accordance with Policy 76 and that foster families must demonstrate they can follow the policy's guidance.
Extra to the policy, other departmental communications and rules have indicated that devout Christians need not apply.
A Sept. 8, 2023, email circulated to all foster families by the VDCF reportedly stated, "Eligibility for licensure is dependent on foster parents and applicants being able to support youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or another diverse identity (LGBTQI+) even if the foster parents hold divergent personal opinions or beliefs."
'It bears mentioning that this suit was filed at the start of pride month.'
A VDCF spokesman relayed a statement from Aryka Radke, deputy commissioner of the Family Services Division, to the Christian Post, saying that while the department does not comment on the details of pending lawsuits, "generally speaking, DCF takes the care and support of youth in our custody seriously, and we work to ensure that youth in foster care are placed in homes that support all aspects of what makes them who they are. This includes their sexual orientation and gender identity."
"It bears mentioning that this suit was filed at the start of pride month — a time when we reflect on the achievements and continued struggles of the LGBTQI+ movement," Radke continued, signaling her bias. "The department stands in partnership with the community, and continually works to be a better partner, ally, and support system — rather than a barrier to the children and youth who identify as part of this community."
"Providing safe, affirming, accepting and welcoming homes benefits all youth and it has the power to save lives. This is true year-round, and bears underscoring for these youth especially during pride," added Radke.
'They don't need the state pushing its gender ideology on them.'
Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, the Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel representing the families, highlighted to the Christian Post that contrary to Radke's suggestion, it's the state's polices that "are actually harmful."
"I would point people to the Cass review that came out of England showing that pharmacological and surgical intervention likely caused more harm than any good and that the evidence is incredibly weak in this area," said Wildmalm-Delphonse. "Children just need a loving place, someone to care for them while they work out these types of issues. They don't need the state pushing its gender ideology on them."
Blaze News previously detailed the extent to which the Cass Review, a multi-year investigation into the pseudoscience of transgenderism, commissioned by England's National Health Service, undermined the ideology that now reigns supreme at the VDCF.
Dr. Hilary Cass, a British medical doctor who previously served as president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, reached a number of damning conclusions in her final report, such as:
Alliance Defending Freedom stated, "By denying people the chance to be foster and adoptive parents because of their religious beliefs and compelling them to speak the government’s preferred message about sexual orientation and gender identity, Vermont is violating the First Amendment."
The lawsuit alleges the VDCF has specifically violated the couples' rights to free speech, free association, and free exercise of religion, as well as the 14th Amendment Due Process Clause. The couple seeks a declaration on the part of the department that its LGBT activist mandate encompassing Policy 76 and a handful of rules violated and continues to violated their constitutionally protected rights. Additionally, they seek an injunction against similar and future denials of foster licenses on the bases of protected beliefs.
"Every child deserves a loving home, and children suffer when the government excludes people of faith from adoption and foster care," added the Alliance Defending Freedom.
The Gantts and Wuotis are hardly the first to be precluded from adopting or fostering on the basis of their Christian faith. The Massachusetts DCF rejected Catholics Mike and Kitty Burke last year. Washington State dashed Shane and Jenn DeGross' dreams in 2022.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The Philadelphia City Council has approved a ban on ski masks in hopes of cutting down on the violent crime that continues to plague the Democrat-run city. The bill, which passed in a landslide vote 13 to 2, is now headed to Mayor Jim Kenney for ratification.
The city's attempt to deny anonymity to prospective murderers and thieves has rankled radical leftists who claim the ski mask ban criminalizes "fashion popular with Black and brown youth" and amounts to prejudice against "people of color."
The proposed amendment to the city code, originally introduced in June and cosponsored by 10 council members, states, "No person shall, with the specific intent to intimidate or threaten another person, or with the specific intent to hide one's identity during the commission of unlawful activity, wear a mask, hood, ski mask, balaclava, or other device or means of hiding, concealing or covering any any portion of the face for the purpose of concealing their identity on public property or private property."
If ratified by Kenney, the bill would prohibit the wearing of ski masks in any school building, recreation center, day care, park, and city-owned building, as well as well as on public trains, buses, and trolleys. Religious garb, holiday and theatrical costumes, and face coverings worn for protection while participating in sports are exempted from the ban.
Numerous states, including Florida, Georgia, and Virginia, have similar bans in place to keep potential criminals from disguising their identity.
The council noted in the preamble to the amendment that the wearing of ski masks became prevalent in the city around 2020, corresponding with "an uptick of individuals wanted by the Police Department who wore ski masks in the commission of a crime."
For instance, in June 2021, a pair of armed men in ski masks shot two people, one of them fatally. In September 2022, five masked individuals opened fire on a crowd at a junior varsity football game, killing a 14-year-old. In May, a thug in a ski mask killed a 15-year-old high school student on a public bus. Two months later, a gunman in a ski mask and body armor massacred five people and injured two children.
Philadelphia has had 383 homicides so far this year, according the Philadelphia Police Department. As of Nov. 26, there had been 497 reported rapes so far this year; 2,385 robberies involving a gun and 2,416 robberies without; 2,794 aggravated assaults with a gun and 4,585 aggravated assaults without; over 5,000 burglaries; 21,763 reports of stolen vehicles; 16,541 incidents of retail theft; 11,768 car break-ins; and 14,037 reports of unqualified theft.
According to Neighborhood Scout, the chances of becoming a victim of a property crime or a violent crime are 1 in 38 and 1 in 123, respectively.
"The use of ski masks by criminals to conceal their identities is both a public safety issues and a quality-of-life issue," said the preamble to the amendment. "Our quality of life suffers when residents feel at greater risk of experiencing crime while going about their daily lives in this City."
Those found in violation of the ban will be hit with a $250 fine. Those wearing a ski mask while committing a crime will be hit with a fine of up to $2,000.
"Oftentimes these ski masks are used to conceal criminal conduct," said Councilmember Anthony Phillips, the author of the amendment, reported WHHY News.
"We must do our duty and place the highest premium on restoring the public trust by having safer communities. This is what our neighbors have sent us to do," added Phillips.
The bill was opposed by two council members, Kendra Brooks and Jamie Gauthier, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"I can't in good conscience vote for something that I feel would further criminalize and marginalize young Black men in our city," said Gauthier, "particularly when I don't feel like, as a city, we've done enough to engage them, listen to them, and support them."
Brooks said, "My fear is that we're putting legislation on the books for a certain population that don't even realize that this is going to victimize them until it tarnishes the racial relationships between the police officers and young people."
Jetson Cruz, an activist with the Youth Art and Self-empowerment Project, which advocates against trying young offenders as adults, suggested the ban "is just a reason to target the young people."
"I've got to be worried about being stopped and harassed by the police for something I choose to wear," continued Cruz. "I've already got tattoos, and I'm already a person of color. It scares me."
The ACLU of Philadelphia, among the leftist outfits that have taken issue with this effort to unmask potential thieves and murderers, suggested both that the bill might violate expression rights and that police might exploit the ban as a means to harass pedestrians.
"This raises some serious concerns constitutionally," said Steve Loney, an attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "We've seen situations where just the knowledge that face coverings are banned in a place can still chill First Amendment activities."
Another local ACLU attorney who calls himself Solomon Furious Worlds said the bill was "an attempt to further criminalize young people of color."
Tara Schiraldi of the Defender Association of Philadelphia similarly suggested a mask ban was racially motivated, reported WHHY News.
"The criminalization of fashion popular with Black and brown youth puts Philadelphia in terrible company," said Schiraldi.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Buffy Sainte-Marie is an Academy Award-winning folk singer who has claimed Native-American heritage since the early 1960s. In her art and activism, she has spoken from what Teen Vogue called an "Indigenous perspective," repeatedly condemning colonization and referring to America's founding and the supposed erasure of American Indians as "genocide." She also has touted herself as a "survivor" of an allegedly racist government welfare program that placed certain Native-American kids in foster homes.
Liberal media outfits devoured and trafficked in the singer's claims for years, suggesting, for instance, that the singer had been forcibly taken away from her Native-American family; that she was "raised ... in a small town where there was almost nobody that looked like her"; that she was Cree.
A birth certificate, testimony from family members, genealogical data, and an altogether damning report from the Canadian state media have knocked out the pillar upon which Sainte-Marie has long built her persona. She was not born in Canada. She was likely not adopted. She is most likely of Italian and English heritage.
Sainte-Marie has for over 50 years claimed to have Native-American heritage. At one stage, she said she was a "full-blooded Algonquin Indian." Months later, in 1963, she said she was "half-Micmac by birth."
Once she got her story straight, she told reporters she was Cree, born on the Piapot First Nation reserve in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, then sent to live with a Massachusetts couple who would become her adoptive parents, Albert and Winifred Santamaria. PBS suggested last year she was taken from her family against their will, owing to a supposedly racist practice called the Sixties Scoop.
Much of her music, dance, and activism came to center on her supposed race.
According to her biography, "It's My Way!," Sainte-Marie held her part in the TV western, "The Virginian," hostage unless the studio agreed to have only real indigenous actors play all of the Native-American parts.
While keen for people to appreciate Native-American culture, she condemned those who attempted to "reach out to Indigenous people to adopt some of their ways," reported Canadian state media.
"It doesn't make any sense to me — these kids, trying to be Indians," she told an underground Berkeley, California, newspaper in 1967. "They'll never become Indians."
Sainte-Marie was hired in 1975 to present Native-American programming for children on "Sesame Street." Her debut appearance was purportedly groundbreaking. She opened a backpack and produced some Native-American bead work.
"This is Cree Indian," she said, holding a pair of moccasins. "Cree Indians are my tribe, and we live in Canada."
Concerning her children's television experience, she said she "wanted little kids and their caretakers to know one thing above all: that Indians exist. We are not all dead and stuffed in museums like the dinosaurs."
Sainte-Marie has won numerous race-based prizes. She took home four Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, two Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards, four Juno awards designated for Native-Americans, and four Indigenous lifetime achievement awards, reported the Canadian state media.
Not only did art centers celebrate her supposed success as a Native-American, Canada even put out a stamp depicting her in traditional native garb.
Canadian state media indicated it received a tip in 2022 that Sainte-Marie was not of Cree ancestry but rather of European heritage. The taxpayer-funded giant subsequently began to investigate discrepancies in the singer's origin story.
Whereas the singer claimed she was born on a Canadian reserve, documents obtained by the state broadcaster, including her birth certificate, indicate she was instead born in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
"She wasn't born in Canada. .... She's clearly born in the United States," Heidi St. Marie, daughter of the singer's older brother Alan, told the state broadcaster. "She's clearly not Indigenous or Native American."
While the singer's Ontario-based lawyer told the broadcaster, "At no point has Buffy Sainte-Marie personally misrepresented her ancestry or any details about her personal history to the public," Sainte-Marie declined requests for a follow-up interview.
Instead, in a video statement posted to Meta, where she once more insinuated she was a Sixties Scoop "survivor," Sainte-Marie discarded her usual racial confidence, saying, "There are also many things I don't know, which I've always been honest about. I don't know where I'm from, who my birth parents are, or how I ended up a misfit in a typical white Christian New England town."
The folk singer's birth certificate states that Beverly Jean Santamaria, the singer's original name, was born in 1941 north of Boston to Albert and Winifred Santamaria. Albert was an electrician whose parents were Italian, and Winifred was a homemaker whose background was English. Sainte-Marie has publicly referred to this couple as her adopted parents, both now dead.
Just like her mother and father, she too was listed on the stamped and certified Town of Stoneham birth certificate as "white."
Canadian state media was able to confirm the facts on the birth certificate by cross-referencing genealogical records and media stories with family interviews.
The state media report also noted various inconsistencies in Sainte-Marie's claims over the years. For instance, in 1966 she stated, "My real mother wasn't in a position to keep me, but I always knew who she was and that I could go back to the place of my birth when I wished." Then, in 1967, she said, "I don't know who my real mother was."
Sainte-Marie's younger sister, now 75, told state media in September that she couldn't recall her parents ever once mentioning the folk singer having been adopted.
The singer's paternal uncle told the Wakefield Daily Item in 1964, Sainte-Marie "has no Indian blood in her."
"I thought I should come down and tell you the truth about Buffy. ... [I]f people believe what they get from the press agents, they'll get a wrong impression," said Arthur Santamaria.
Asked whether the singer had Native-American blood, her uncle responded, "Not a bit."
Other family members, including her cousin Bruce Santamaria, all understood that she was "Uncle Albert's child."
The town clerk in Stoneham, Massachusetts, Maria Sagarino, told Canadian state media that Sainte-Marie's handwritten birth certificate was signed by Dr. Herbert Land, the same doctor who delivered her sister years later. The doctor certified she had been born to Alfred and Winifred Santamaria.
Sagarino further noted that "children adopted by parents in Massachusetts were commonly issued new Massachusetts birth certificates with the name of their adoptive parents," which hadn't happened in Sainte-Marie's case.
"It doesn't appear that she was adopted in any way, shape or form," said the town clerk.
On a marriage certificate in 1982, even the singer confirmed she was born in the U.S. to "Albert and Winifred St. Marie."
Sainte-Marie released a statement in advance of the report, noting she was "proud of [her] Indigenous-American identity."
— (@)
While Sainte-Marie appears to have been playing at it longer, faking Native-American heritage for self-gain appears to be an all-too common occurrence.
Blaze News previously indicated that Marlon Brando's infamous Academy Awards stand-in Sacheen Littlefeather, whose real name was Marie Louise Cruz, was revealed by her sisters to have been of Hispanic and European heritage, not Apache ancestry.
Heather Rae, an award-winning producer, was accused earlier this year of lying about being Cherokee.
Former Berkeley sociology professor Elizabeth Hoover also greatly benefited from faking a Native-American background, admitting to probably having received special treatment as a result of the perception she was a "Native scholar."
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) identified as Native-American on her application for a job at Harvard University and hand-wrote "American Indian" in the field for "race" on her State Bar of Texas registration card. In 2018, former President Donald Trump, who had long derided Warren as "Pocahontas," challenged the senator to get a DNA test to prove she was Native-American. The test results came back showing that she was only 1/1,024th Native-American, if at all.
"They're taking that opportunity from a real Indigenous person. ... It's prestige, it's money, it's grants and awards and positions and work that they would never have gotten otherwise," Métis lawyer Jean Teillet of Vancouver told state media.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Filmmakers behind a new period drama set in Denmark around the 1750s were recently confronted over their film's apparent "lack of diversity." After all, now is the time when Oscar nominations hinge upon whether a given production checks various boxes pertaining to the sex, sexual preference, and race of those involved, when Snow White of Germanic folklore is Colombian and the Grecian Cleopatra of historical record is black.
Rather than apologizing for having prioritized the integrity of their art over identity politics, actor Mads Mikkelsen and Danish director Nikolaj Arcel laughed off the accusation and pointed out a critical fact worth considering.
Mikkelsen and Arcel recently attended the Venice Film Festival for the Aug. 31 world premier of their new period drama, "The Promised Land," based on the book "The Captain and Ann Barbara" by Ida Jessen.
"The Promised Land," alternatively titled "Bastarden" in Danish, reportedly presents a faithful depiction of 18th-century life in the inhospitable heath of Jutland and the true story of a bankrupt former Danish soldier, Cpt. Ludvig von Kahlen, and his endeavor to secure the royal title denied him by birth, reported the Hollywood Reporter.
While the actor and director fielded questions from the press, a Danish reporter confronted the duo with what woke Hollywood gatekeepers and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences might regard as a damning failing of their film, which has otherwise been met with rave reviews.
The reporter noted the film was a "Danish production, which is entirely Nordic. Therefore has some lack of diversity, you would say."
Mikkelsen began laughing right away, responding, "What are you on to? From the get-go."
"There is some rules across the Atlantic for competing in the best picture, the equivalent of this competition," continued the reporter. "I see you don't live up to these standards. ... It's not because of artistic reasons, but because of lack of diversity that this can't compete in that competition."
The reporter was referencing the "Representation and Inclusion Standards for Oscars Eligibility," which require that a film meet two out of four "standards."
To satisfy the first standard, filmmakers must meet one of the following criteria:
The second standard requires that at least two creative leadership positions and department heads, 30% of the film's crew, or six other key roles hail from these "underrepresented groups."
The third standard requires both that the film's distribution or financing company offer paid apprenticeships or internships to people from these groups and further that it offer training opportunities and skill developments, but again only to non-whites, non-straights, and women.
The fourth and final standard requires that the film company and/or studio have multiple senior executives from these allegedly underrepresented groups.
After noting that "The Promised Land" might fail to satisfy these identitarian demands, the reporter asked the filmmakers if they were worried.
Mikkelsen responded, "Are you? And I'm serious."
In reply, the reporter pointed out one notable exception where a foreign film devoid of diversity was recently celebrated by Hollywood: "Parasite," the South Korean film that won best picture at the 92nd Academy Awards.
"'Parasite' was a great movie coming from South Korea," said the reporter. "[It] had the same level of diversity but coming from South Korea, this was still eligible for the competition."
The reporter added that the acceptance of the all-Korean film but likely rejection of the all-Nordic film presented a "little bit of a conundrum."
Arcel emphasized that the film takes place in a time and place where "almost nobody" was non-white, adding that the solitary "girl of color" featured in the film would have been exceptional.
"It's just a historical — how it was in the 1750s," added Arcel.
The lead female protagonist is reportedly a pure fiction, however, invented for Jessen's novel.
The director further intimated that satisfying diversity standards "wasn't a thought in our minds" when telling the story of the Danish soldier.
Arcel told Variety last week, "I couldn't have made this film in Hollywood."
"Today, it’s more about action and superheroes, but I’m very interested in taking that genre, one that has gotten a bit lost, and modernizing it," said Arcel. "It has this western quality because it's about pioneers in a new land, trying to build something, but I was more interested in looking at old epics like 'Lawrence of Arabia.' I think it’s a genre we need."
Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Arcel Discuss Diversity & 'The Promised Land' at the Venice Film Festivalyoutu.be
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Young people don’t seem to know who they are or where they came from any more.
As the world turns increasingly digital, it’s easier to get lost in a sea of other lost identities as they search endlessly for instant gratification.
“If you know where you came from, you tend to start knowing kind of who you are, because the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Chad Prather explains.
“We live in a generation,” he continues, “where we have young people who’ve come along. They’ve been told, first of all, the first lie, in this weird-a** parenting philosophy that we embraced a long time ago.”
The lie? “You can be anything you want to be.”
“No, you can’t. You simply cannot be anything you want to be,” Prather says, adding that he believes this lie is being “reinforced with this, you know, TikTok reel generation.”
Social media has given the youth an opportunity to be heard by millions, without requiring substance or truth in what’s being said.
“You’re doing it for the likes, you’re doing it for the reactions, you’re doing it for the responses and the comments and the shares. That’s not real life,” Prather says.
While the future has been looking bleak, Prather has a solution for this generation of dopamine-addicted automatons.
“I want you grandparents, you granddads out there, introduce your grandchildren to consequences. Just consequences. Teach them about where they came from and what their history is,” Prather says.
While every generation looks at the next generation as if they’re not well enough equipped, Prather believes this is truly the one that needs saving.
“We’re dealing with some real destructive behavior, that when you get engaged with some of this stuff — it can kill you.”
To enjoy more of Chad's comedy, craziness and common sense, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
A sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, went the route of Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), claiming native heritage her "whole life." Like Warren, Elizabeth Hoover has had to confront the fact that she is white and may have exploited her false identity for personal gain.
Hoover — whose research focuses on Native American environmental health and "food sovereignty movements" — is an associate professor at the university's department of environmental science, policy, and management. Campus media reportedly touted Hoover as one of a growing number of Native American scholars at Berkeley when she joined the staff in 2020.
She has long involved herself in native political initiatives, frequently intimating that America was founded on "stolen land" and partaking in critiques of colonialism. Hoover also ran Native American student organizations, powwows at Williams College and at Brown University, and Akwesasne community garden projects.
The Berkeley professor issued an apology Monday, stating, "I am a white person who has incorrectly identified as Native my whole life, based on incomplete information. In uncritically living an identity based on family stories without seeking out a documented connection to these communities, I caused harm."
This harm, said Hoover, has "fractured trust," activated "historical harms," and "interrupted student and faculty life and careers."
"By claiming an identity as a woman of Mohawk and Mi’kmaq descent without confirming it with communities of origin, and by not confirming kinship ties back to politically and culturally affiliated Indigenous peoples, I betrayed and hurt my students, collaborators, and friends. I have negatively impacted people emotionally and culturally," she added.
While it is unclear how many of the awards and grants Hoover has received to date have been contingent on her past claims to Native American ancestry, she confirmed that she may not have received some academic fellowships, opportunities, and material benefits had she not been "perceived as a Native scholar."
Although ready to admit she has benefited from her fraudulent identity, Hoover stressed that her current position at the university was not necessarily designated for a non-white individual and reportedly has no intention of resigning.
Hoover indicated in her apology that she was first challenged in her "Indigenous identity" when she assumed her first assistant professor job.
"At the time, I interpreted inquiries into the validity of my Native identity as petty jealousy or people just looking to interfere in my life," she wrote. "As such, I allowed my ego to drive my response and answered these inquiries with my family’s story."
As restitution, Hoover has vowed to put away her "dance regalia, ribbons skirts, moccasins, and Native jewelry" and funnel proceeds from her talks and book sales to Native American causes.
Over 370 students and professors are demanding that Hoover resign her position at Berkeley, reported the the Press-Telegram.
Hoover's fellow leftists-turned-racial purists are calling her a "Pretendian" — "one of many settlers in academia who claim Indigeneity based on unverified family lore and has marketed this identity for personal gain, acquiring both fellowships and faculty positions."
After discovering that Hoover was white in October, Elizabeth Rule, an assistant professor of critical race theory at American University, lashed out, claiming the Berkeley professor "used her (false) identity to create problems with potentially direct, material consequences during my PhD dissertation defense at Brown."
"In the middle of my defense, with my whole committee present, she raised issue with me for incorrectly identifying her tribal affiliation. Obviously, I profusely apologized and was embarrassed for making what I was led to think was a simple but important mistake," added Rule.
Unlike her fellow academics, Josh Sargent, a member of the Akwesasne Mohawk community in upstate New York where Hoover previously did research, told the Press-Telegram that she's "a good person and always welcome here," adding that the identity squabble taking place is more or less limited to the "bubble of academia."
Warren, also an academic, claimed Cherokee and Delaware Indian heritage. The New England genealogical society indicated that it has found no proof of Warren’s self-proclaimed lineage.
In addition to possibly benefiting from her assumed heritage during her academic career, Warren also contributed recipes to a Native American cookbook called "Pow Wow Chow" in 1984, signing her entries, Elizabeth Warren -- Cherokee," reported the Washington Post.
When challenged to take a DNA test by former President Donald Trump, Warren did so. The results indicated she might be 1/1024 Native American.
Hoover and Warren are hardly the first outed as having ostensibly adopted another racial identifier for personal gain.
The sisters of Sacheen Littlefeather — the actress who rose to notoriety in 1973 as Marlon Brando's Academy Awards stand-in, denouncing the film industry for its representation of Native Americans — indicated last year that she was actually of Hispanic and European heritage.
TheBlaze previously reported that an influential social justice activist Raquel Evita Saraswati, who claimed to be a Muslim woman of color, was recently revealed by her mother to be "as white as the driven snow."
Rachel Dolezal, former head of the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the NAACP and former adjunct professor at North Idaho college, long claimed to have both black and Native American heritage.
In 2015, after years of claiming to be black and teaching African-American studies, Dolezal's relatives revealed she was, in fact, white. She subsequently admitted that she was "born white" but "I do consider myself to be black."
Hoover's revelation that she has been white all along comes just weeks after a white male Republican councilman in Indiana realized that he was actually a Native American woman.
Indigenous Food Sovereignty | Elizabeth Hoover at The World Around in Focus: Land youtu.be
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, pledged $640 million to over 360 mostly leftwing, identity-based nonprofits.
With any hope, parents who have children struggling with mental illness may finally be emboldened to take action.
www.theblaze.com
www.theblaze.com
thefederalist.com
LGBTQ+ Boom: Unpacking the National Identity Shift | Ep 743