Louise Erdrich Has Principles

Some writers use the language so beautifully that they cause the reader to fall in love with their words; to get lost in pages of wonder.  In novel after novel Louise Erdrich evokes that sensual response from me.  From Love Medicine to The Painted Drum her bittersweet experiences and perfectly believable characters draw me into a real world of fictional possibility. Reading The Master Butcher's Singing Club actually made me wonder if she knew my grandfather, a German immigrant and decorated soldier who fought in WWI while in the German army.  In America he settled in North Dakota as a butcher just like one of the main characters from the novel.  I couldn't put it down.  I couldn't believe it and I couldn't disbelieve it, instead I just lived it.

Erdrich is mixed heritage, including Anishinabe and her stories are rich with native themes.  Her bookstore, Birchbark Books, is the most enjoyable, relaxing bookstore in the Twin Cities. 

Last week, the University of North Dakota offered Ms. Erdrich an Honorary Doctorate degree for her talented portrayals of North Dakota and Native America.  She turned them down with this eloquence:

I would be only to happy to accept this degree, were it not for the UND endorsed logo. The Fighting Sioux logo has alienated many good and hardworking tribal people, as well as decent folk who do not like to see others denigrated as sports symbols.
....
Again, I regret having to having turn down this wonderful honor. My family regrets this too. I really do wish that I could accept.

She didn't make a big deal out of this, she thanked the university for the honor and turned it down.

But, that doesn't stop the comments from our wonderful right-wing bloggers and commenters. Here's a sample (after the jump):

From Say Anything

"Another self-important liberal grandstanding on an issue that wouldn’t even be controversial were it not for grandstanding self-important liberals causing a stink."

"Why am I thinking that this lady hasn’t written anything worth reading?"

"This public refusal of an honorary degree is merely more of the same, trying to use this issue to hype herself once again, to “validate” her Indian credentials, to jump on the anti-nickname bandwagon and ride the Activist Indian wave as long as she can.  (And if it sells a few more of her books, so much the better…)"

"No big surprise. Drug dealing, race-baiting poverty pimps such as yourself are always self-hating fuckbags"

From The Far Wright Blogger

" . . . lunatic liberal activists from beating this dead horse over and over again. I guess this is a nice way for this author to keep her name in the limelight, and keep her liberal fans purchasing"

From Comments on the story at the Bismarck Tribune.

"I will not be buying ms. erdrich's books anymore, she has no business commenting on the UND nickname - it is a North Dakota issue, not a worldwide issue."

Nice, huh?

You know what this is like? It's like a guy asking a girl out on a date and she turns the guy down . . . so he spreads rumors that she's a whore, bitch, and slut.

She doesn't deserve the abuse.  She was adult enough to be respectful, not make a big deal out of the rejection, but instead to maintain the stand she's taken on an issue.  Her beliefs and convictions are important to her and I respect how she's handled it. 

I'm not surprised by the response from these self-described conservatives.   Anyone with morals, honor, and convictions that differ from their beliefs not only get no respect, but are subject to abuse. They're no better than ignorant bullies.

- rick, disgusted.

 

Comments

[a rose is a rose]

rick, this really does tie in with the 'take back the blog' theme of the other day. sure, men get it too,i know that.

i, on the other hand agree with YOU. ms erdrich seems to have principals about her (unlike the commenters you quoted above)

i don't understand why people are filled with such bile? why does her turning down an honorary degree upset them? it's the same with gay marriage. how the hell is THAT going to effect a heterosexual marriage? answer, ms erdrich is NOT going to make one bit of difference to those whose souls are filled with spewing effluvia nor is gay marriage going to turn your sons (and daughters but i know they don't care that much about their daughters) into raging queens.

people (some, not all) are such id-jits

[Cherise]

What is really sad to me, is that this was made into a right wing/left wing argument/issue, when clearly it's simply a matter of right and wrong. She is entitled to her opinion and she handled it with grace and class. The assclowns at Say Anything and the other blogs just show the rest of us their ugly, repulsive, intolerant side. Shame on them. cherise, a Chippewa. :)

[CV Rick]

Rose,

Not one single homosexual relationship has affected my own heterosexual life. Not one single principled stand taken by an honorable person has hurt me. You make very good points.

Cherise,

It shouldn't be a right/left issue, but as usual it's the "right" that starts the name-calling.

[Success Warrior]

The comment that Erdrich probably can't write because of this belief is a great one. You see, all the great writers in history have believed in exactly all the same standards and those standards just happened to be the standards of conservative white Christian heterosexual males.

It's a well known fact.

[Sister Mary Lisa]

You make me want to read her stuff.

[Graeme]

I love the praire and the history here, but there is this right-wing infection in ND. The state legislation is made up of welfare queen farmers that hate any sort of change. Of course I am generalizing, there are many awesome people here, but they are outnumbered.