The real Pocahontas deserves honor

When the current resident of the White House used the name Pocahontas as a demeaning racist slur when referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren at the recent National Rifle Association convention he displayed not only a typical schoolyard bully name calling tactic he also showed an abysmal ignorance of American history.

The president was apparently confusing the Disney caricature of Pocahontas in the children’s movie with the historical Pocahontas. The young woman who played a significant role in saving the Jamestown Colony, one of the first European settlements on the North American continent, from starvation; the young woman who was presented at the court of King James 1 of England, who at the time was perhaps the most powerful man on the planet. The young woman honored on a Commemorative US postage stamp. The young woman who has towns, schools, and even counties in this country named after her. Perhaps he was just confused.

What is even more disheartening is that not only does the president lack a knowledge of history, but so do his administration and even members of congress, apparently, for not correcting his lack of understanding after the first time he used the name Pocahontas as a racist slur in public to demean a sitting U.S. Senator.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 6:36 PM with the headline "The real Pocahontas deserves honor."