Sherman R. Frederick/Properly Subversive
Meet Qwo-Li Driskill, an associate professor at Oregon State University. Or, I should say, he was at that fine place of discerning and modern learning until this semester when s/he quietly disappeared from the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department.
Sherman Frederick
Qwo-Li is one of those exceedingly rare teachers who come from — and I quote — “a Two-Spirit, queer, disabled, and mixed-race experience.” The bio touts s/he’s of Cherokee, African, Irish, Lenape, Lumbee, and Osage descent. Personal pronouns: “S/he, Hir, and they/them.”
I can only imagine the tingling in the nether regions of the hiring gatekeeper at Oregon State when Qwo-Li’s resume crossed the desk. Must have gone something like this:
“OMG! OMG! Two-spirit, queer, disabled, Native American AND African? Look no further, we have a winner!”
And who could resist such a find. Get a load of this guy’s jargon-infused intellect as the keynote speaker at the 24th annual Women’s and Gender Studies Symposium.
“The world needs to hear that we’re still here and we’re not going anywhere. Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ are a model of resistance, continuance, and resurgence. Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ elders, activists, artists, and scholars — who are often the very same people — have cleared a path for healing and reconciliation in our communities and are reminding us to not only remember our past, but to imagine our futures not only for Indigenous people but for all people. Colonization and racism has tried — and tries — to eradicate gender-sexual complexities for Indigenous people globally and ‘civilize’ us into cis-heteropatriarchy. Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ people are reminding the world that the plan to make us disappear has failed. Our stories are necessary to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities if we are to change our current realities.”
In the world of woke academia, this is something straight out of central casting. Unfortunately for Oregon State, Qwo-Li wasn’t all s/he was cracked up to be.
Students were the first to sniff it out. University administrators were slow to react because, you know, how many schools have their own freakin’ two-spirit, queer, disabled, Native American, African professor on staff.
Then the TAAF (Tribal Alliance Against Frauds), which takes these kinds of things very seriously, investigated and found Qwo-Li was not enrolled as a citizen of any federally recognized tribal nation. Yet Qwo-Li insisted s/he descended from Cherokee, Lenape (Delaware) and Osage lineage.
The TAAF essentially said to Mr. Qwo-Li: “No you are not; stop pretending.”
The TAAF minced no words.
“The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds has done their genealogy and has proven that they have zero ancestry from any American Indian tribal nation whatsoever. This is supported by hundreds of unimpeachable genealogical documents that trace Driskill in a direct line back several generations on both sides of their family. It is also supported by letters from all the nations they falsely claim ancestry from, who all clearly state that neither they nor their ancestors are citizens of their nations.”
And just like that, Qwo-Li turned back into plain old Paul Edward Driskill of white rural Colorado. Mr. Driskill no longer teaches at Oregon State. He’s gone wherever “pretendians” go. (Say hello to Sen. Elizabeth Warren for us, will you?)
Look, hucksters happen. Mistakes can be made, but that’s not why I’m writing this today. The more important take-a-way from this story is twofold.
- If a university can’t catch an over-the-top guy like this, what other unqualified bullshit professors exist out there?
- What subjects are considered legit disciplines for higher education? There are a lot of taxpayers who need to know.
Seriously, what’s going on in higher education today?
(Thanks for reading Properly Subversive. Remember to laugh a little, avoid soreheads and always question authority. You can find more PS columns at https://shermanfrederick.
