Wednesday Open Thread: A Historic Nomination

Thirty-five generations.

That's the word "grandparents" preceded by the word "great" thirty-three times. Even those among us who are descended from the earliest settlers can only claim fifteen or so generations. Many of us can only go back four or five generations if our families came here around the turn of the 20th century. Looking at one's own family tree, it more than likely gets harder and harder to follow for the older generations. More than likely, our families left a land ravaged by war, sickness, or famine. Original birth certificates or documents may have been lost or may not have been produced at all. Online software has made ancestry more accessible but even then, we would be hard-pressed to find anyone who can trace his or her lineage back thirty-five generations.

Enter Deb Haaland. 

Haaland is a thirty-fifth-generation New Mexican and an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna. Along with Sharice Davids of Kansas, she became the first-ever Native American elected to the United States Congress in 2018 and she now is up for confirmation to head the Department of the Interior. Her nomination and what it means for Native Americans cannot be overstated. For the first time in our nation's history, a member of our indigenous population is on the national stage. Her community is watching. Younger generations are watching. The world is watching.

Republicans know this but they are too racist to care. Based on yesterday's confirmation hearing, they will continue to try and paint Haaland as "radical" which is their clever codeword they use against all qualified people of color. There is nothing radical about Haaland or her views, which are largely in step with the majority of American voters. In fact, the idea of conservation of our natural lands is widely seen as one of the only bipartisan issues in America today. But Republicans don't care how their badgering of a woman of color looks to the general public, all they care about is how it will play in their home states. They're banking on the fact that their "principled" opposition to a Native American woman can be sold as opposition to her policies and not to her race. The truth is, they're not wrong. Their base is perfectly content to oppose any nominees of color while telling themselves it has nothing to do with that fact. Whatever helps them sleep at night. 

While it makes Republican senators feel good about themselves in the moment, it cannot be overstated the impact this will have down the road. Joe Biden is building a government that looks like America. Latino Xavier Becerra is set to have his confirmation hearing for HHS this very same week. People are noticing how Republican senators are putting up a fight against Deb Haaland, Neera Tanden, and Alejandro Mayorkas and not Biden's White nominees. This matters to people. This matters to the country's Native Americans, who are closely watching the confirmation hearings that are traditionally ignored by 99% of the country. At a time when the Native American vote helped put Joe Biden over the top in Arizona, Republicans choosing to double down on their overt racism will continue to alienate voters of color, the same voters of color who will be the majority of voters starting in 2040. Parents and children are watching and what they are seeing is an entire political party willing to throw away its future because of the temporary high of speaking down to qualified nominees of color. It's a strategy that will ultimately accelerate the decline of the Republican Party among non-White voters for generations to come. 

And it's a strategy playing out in broad daylight on television screens across America.