Actor Jesse Eisenberg called out for using the term 'squaw' in The New Yorker
'What year is it @NewYorker? Your racism is circa 1930's,' tweeter Jamie Wilson writes
Hollywood actor Jesse Eisenberg, star of the Facebook movie The Social Network, has come under fire on social media for a story he wrote that appears in the May 25 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Eisenberg writes about a "squaw" telling a "Native American chief" to do a "rain dance."
The article uses several different examples of characters convincing, cajoling, and threatening males into dancing. It appears in the Shouts & Murmurs section, a regular feature in the magazine, billed as humourous fiction.
But not everyone is laughing. It didn't take long for members of the indigenous community to call out Eisenberg and The New Yorker on Twitter, for using the word "squaw."
Here is the magazine's original tweet:
“I’m totally good with LSD. But did you say dancing?” The latest <a href="https://twitter.com/tnyshouts">@tnyshouts</a>, by Jesse Eisenberg: <a href="http://t.co/YVlvMNFV9d">http://t.co/YVlvMNFV9d</a>
—@NewYorkerOnce the article started to be shared online, the indigenous community began responding.
<a href="https://twitter.com/WabKinew">@WabKinew</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@NewYorker</a> Two injustices: My favorite magazine calls me a "squaw" and uses a racial slur (1)
—@ShawonKinewWhat year is it <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@NewYorker</a>? Your racism is circa 1930's: Men and Dancing - The New Yorker <a href="http://t.co/qvAug52elR">http://t.co/qvAug52elR</a>
—@JamesBWilson_Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@NewYorker</a> love your magazine, but hate the fact you used the slur "Squaw" in an attempt at a humour column <a href="http://t.co/3sOvB1lkiD">http://t.co/3sOvB1lkiD</a>
—@WabKinewIn all the vacuous, ignorant writing on squaws, Chiefs and rain dancing, this is exceptional. Top notch, <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@NewYorker</a>. <a href="https://t.co/mKt27kGfGl">https://t.co/mKt27kGfGl</a>
—@Hayden_KingSome people tried to educate The New Yorker editors and Eisenberg on the racist term.
"Squaw" is used by settlers to dehumanize Native women. Native women are not "Squaws" in Native cultures they are leaders. <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@NewYorker</a>
—@cutchabaldy<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chahta?src=hash">#Chahta</a> dictionary printed 1915. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Squaw?src=hash">#Squaw</a> was omitted then, why would you think it is okay to use it now, <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@NewYorker</a>? <a href="http://t.co/cB3Vjb2b3r">pic.twitter.com/cB3Vjb2b3r</a>
—@RandellBazeWhile others took it a step further...
How did editors at the <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@newyorker</a> allow Jesse Eisenberg to use 6 times the word "squaw"-which is essentially a racist version of the c-word?
—@drivewest... and wondered how The New Yorker would portray other cultures.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NativeAmerican?src=hash">#NativeAmerican</a> characters named <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Squaw?src=hash">#Squaw</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chief?src=hash">#Chief</a>, eh <a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorker">@NewYorker</a>? What terms will be approved for other minorities? <a href="http://t.co/cZBBQQBryN">http://t.co/cZBBQQBryN</a>
—@zhaabowekweEisenberg, who played Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, isn't the first Hollywood actor to insult the indigenous community through what could be called inappropriate humour.
Eight native actors and a cultural adviser walked off the set of the Adam Sandler comedy The Ridiculous Six saying the script was insulting to native women and elders
A Canadian fashion duo also came under fire for using the same racist term Eisenberg used when describing their fall line this past March.
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