Is City Council District C candidate Kelsey Foster White or an American Indian?
Qualifying to run for office in Orleans Parish is not a difficult process. Candidates are asked to bring their photo identification and the required fee. Working with the Clerk of Court’s staff, they fill out the official application and are then given the opportunity to review their information including home and business address, political party affiliation, tax payment status, and ethnicity before certifying the document’s accuracy. Failure to complete the paperwork accurately often leads to a legal challenge and removal from the race.
Nothing appeared amiss when City Council District C candidate Kelsey Foster arrived at qualifying. She had her ID and fee. She correctly noted her address, party affiliation, and tax status. Yet when she checked the official document for accuracy, Kelsey saw a major flaw – her ethnic origin. Foster, who presents as White, was listed as an American Indian. She immediately changed her ethnic origin to White and completed the registration process.
When asked for an explanation about the last-minute change, Foster’s campaign manager Katie Baudouin first attributed the discrepancy to a possible glitch in the clerk’s office computer. In fact, no glitch occurred. Every person’s application for voter registration is a hand-written document. Unfortunately for Foster, a review of voter registration forms available from the Louisiana Secretary of State show that each of the three times she registered, Foster listed her ethnicity as American Indian.
Recently Foster appeared shocked and offered no explanation after being reminded of the choices she made on the application. A review of Foster’s LinkedIn profile does connect her to American Indian culture. Foster was once an intern for a Virginia program, which included participants from Senegal, Kent, England, Virginia and local Native American tribes. “I do like to attend Pow Wows,” Foster said.
Several days later Foster issued a statement through her campaign manager Katie Baudouin that attempted to explain the discrepancy. “I am deeply proud of my Native American and Italian heritage. Like millions of Americans, my ancestry is complex and voter registration cards only provide a snapshot.”
“Even as late as the early 1960’s, it was not unusual for light skinned Black New Orleanians to cross-over as White. More than six decades later, it is amazing that anyone would feel the need to fake their ethnicity,” said one political observer. “Will Foster be celebrating Indigenous People’s Day on October 13 or will she be hiding from her American Indian ancestry,” the observer mused.
Foster is not the first or last politician to present as one race but claim a different heritage.
In 2015 Rachel Dolezal presented as Black while serving as president of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP. Yet she was born to White parents and raised as White. After Dolezal was outed by her parents, her motives for pretending to be Black were widely questioned. Dolezal subsequently adopted an African-inspired name – Nkechi Amare Diallo in 2017. Nhechi is the Igbo word for “gift of God. Diallo means “bold” in Fulani. “I wasn’t identifying as Black to upset people. I was being me,” Dolezal told The Guardian.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren D- Mass was exploring a run for the presidency in 2019. After releasing results of a DNA test to “prove” her ancestral heritage, Warren was forced to apologize to the Cherokee Nation. “I am not a person of color,” admitted Warren during a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa. “Being a Cherokee Nation tribal citizen is rooted in centuries of culture and laws not through DNA tests,” said a spokeswoman for the tribe.
Foster is one of three candidates running against District C Councilmember Freddie King who is seeking re-election on October 11. Other candidates in that race include Elliot Barron and Jackson Kimbrell.
