If one is 1/32nd Native American, should they be considered Native American?

[Joe Biden 2020]

Why am I being mocked and criticized and laughed at and brutally at that for my heritage?  You all do not get to decide whether I can call myself Native American.  That is not your call to make.  You guys are scum for debating this and mocking me because of it.  I ask that this thread be locked immediately.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You - and only you - are responsible for the one-man minstrel show that inspired this admittedly pathetic debate. (Sure, it's just another chapter in the series of lies, scams, and shakedowns that is your life, but how many posters actually want to see you denied health care?) Stop whining like a child.

Still, the thread should be locked, or at the very least merged into the existing Update thread.  Posters should heed angus's post.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Why am I being mocked and criticized and laughed at and brutally at that for my heritage?  You all do not get to decide whether I can call myself Native American.  That is not your call to make.  You guys are scum for debating this and mocking me because of it.  I ask that this thread be locked immediately.

And, it's a legitimate question in our society how people categorize themselves and claim different identities.  For example, I half-Jewish ancestry, but my dad is a Jew, not my mother.  So, some people would say I'm not Jewish at all.  Especially since I don't go to temple or participate in Jewish religious life much at all. 

I'm also 1/32 Native American.  I wouldn't dare speak for Native Americans or call myself one because my family and upbringing had nothing to do with being Native American.  On the other hand, I know a lot about what it means to be Jewish, it means something to me.  If being Native American has meant something in your life, fine.  But, don't just say, I'm Native American because my great, great, great grandmother was Native American.  And, certainly don't say it so cavalierly and in service of silencing the legitimate complaints of Native Americans.

If you read my last post (I think?) in the Redskins thread, then I clearly stated that I very rarely, if ever, give written validation that I am Native American.  On ethnicity questions, I always answer Caucasian unless the questionnaire is Native American-focused.  If asked, I verbally give adherence that I am Native American, because I feel a strong bond with the Indians and I do receive tribal health care, but I never answer Native American on non-NA ethnicity questionnaires.  I always answer Caucasian.

[Joe Biden 2020]

If asked, I verbally give adherence that I am Native American, because I feel a strong bond with the Indians

Oh?  How so?


Oh, and  you mock yourself when you're 1/32nd anything and claim to be it.

I am not going to deny or ignore my heritage.  My heritage from my mother's side has a lot of Indian.  That said, please re-read the post that you quoted.  I don't give written credence to my Native American heritage.  I only give verbal when asked.  Nobody is bringing that up, instead I'm being attacked for even mentioning it at all.  What am I supposed to do?  Ignore or deny my heritage?