Racial exchange in Plum Island

Here's the most substantial exchange about Indians in the mystery Plum Island. It's a dialogue between police detective John Corey (the narrator) and his love interest Emma Whitestone about their Long Island location:There were some fields that Emma said had been common pastureland since colonial times, and there were woods here and there. I asked, "Are the Indians friendly?"

"There are no Indians."

"All gone?"

"All gone."

"Except the ones in Connecticut who opened the biggest casino complex between here and Las Vegas."

She said, "I have some Native American blood."

"Really?"

"Really. A lot of the old families do, but they're not advertising it. Some people come to me actually wanting to expunge relatives from the archives."

"Incredible." I knew there was a politically correct thing to say, but every time I try to do PC, I blow it. I mean, it changes, like weekly. I played it safe with, "Racist."

"Racial, though not necessarily racist. Anyway, I don't care who knows I had Indian blood. My maternal great-grandmother was a Corchaug."

"Well, you have nice color."

"Thanks."A few notes on this:

The story takes place in 1997 or thereabouts, so Corey should know that there are no "hostile" Indians present. But perhaps this was meant to be a joke.

Foxwoods is the largest casino in the world except for one in Macau, I believe. It's larger than anything in Las Vegas.

It's hard to believe that anyone would be upset about having an Indian ancestor. These days, I'd think it would be more of a source of pride than shame. But I don't know enough about the upper crust of Long Island to say this is unrealistic.

People want to "expunge" Indians from their ancestry, but that's not racist? How do you figure? It's a clearcut case of discriminating among people by race for no reason other than race. In other words, it's a clearcut case of racism.

How is it politically correct to call a racist a racist? Answer: It isn't. Corey's response was reasonable and he shouldn't feel obligated to apologize for it.

The politically correct position in our society isn't to denounce racism. It's to tolerate racism without denouncing it. If you take the politically incorrect route of denouncing racism, many people will criticize you and try to shut you up.

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.